Author notes: Well, thank you for the patience but my usual beta reader couldn't do her "job" and this chapter has been delayed a month.

And now, enjoy the chapter and show me that you care about this fic by giving me a review.

EPISODE 1: A NEW BEGINNING.

Chapter 4: The beginning of the journey.

Mizuho.

The tranquil and peaceful village of Mizuho became soon a riot of feminine squeals as the red haired ex-chosen, Zelos Wilder, entered in the town. It didn't take a lot of time for him to be surrounded by a bunch of teenagers excited by the arrival of such a sexy hero, and even if Zelos felt flattered by the random compliments at the beginning, the situation soon began became a little uncomfortable.

"Hehe- Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. Of course, but I can't now. You are cute too, sweet lady. Yeah, yeah- Could you let me pass? Yeah, sure, but I need to go to see your chief- Do you mind! Sure, sure… Yeah, I like your look too."

When he finally managed to pass through the crowd and arrive to his destination, the chief's house, or as he liked to call it for fun: The house of horrors.

Zelos entered without asking and closed the door behind him, leaving at the other side of the door the girls who could still be heard. Zelos smiled, amused as some of the girls began to jealously say things about their 'lucky chief'.

Zelos went ahead walking over the scratchy wooden floor until he reached the shoji. He took the door from one side to open it, but when he had barely opened it a few inches suddenly a hand grabbed it and closed it forcefully. Zelos looked to his side to see a blue suited ninja.

"The chief is busy now."

"Nice to see you too, Orochi." Zelos answered with an obviously fake smile. "But as much as it pleases me to see you again I would like to have a talk with Sheena."

"As I told you, she is busy now and she can't see anyone."

"Oh, c'mon, don't be like that with me," Zelos complained unsuccessfully to Orochi who looked at him with a cold, stoic glance. Since convincing Orochi would be a titanic work, Zelos decided to change his strategy. "Sheena! I know you're there! Could you stop ignoring me and tell this alpha male bodyguard to step aside to let me in?"

Orochi frowned. "I'm not any kind of alpha male! The chief is busy with her work and you will leave by hook or by crook."

Zelos took some steps away and waved his hand trying to calm Orochi. "Okay, okay- I will wait outside until she is done with her 'personal stuff'. How much time do you think it will take her to get her relief?" He asked loud enough to be sure that Sheena was able to hear him. "I guess that ten minutes should be enough."

"Okay, you win!" Sheena said from the other side of the shoji. "Let him in Orochi."

Orochi moved aside as he opened the door to allow Zelos enter the room.

Zelos half-covered his eyes with his hand and looked aside smiling.

"Oh, please Sheena, I don't want to enter in such a private moment."

"Zelos!" Sheena said, annoyed and blushing. "Stop being an idiot and enter already!"

"Well, if you want me in I guess I can't disobey the desires of the Mizuho chief, can I?" Zelos finished as he entered the room looking towards a really annoyed Orochi who closed the shoji door as soon as Zelos entered.

"Don't worry Orochi, you can leave!" Sheena said to her old friend.

"As you order, chief."

Sheena walked to the shoji and opened the door. "I've told you a thousand times not to call me chief. You can call me Shee-" but Orochi had already left before she could end her sentence. "-na. My, he's fast."

Sheena closed the door and looked behind her. Zelos was sat down cross legged over the floor, serving himself a cup of the tea that she had just prepared for herself.

"Please make yourself at home." Sheena said sarcastically.

"Sure!" Zelos answered taking off his shoes and launching them across the room.

Sheena face-palmed as she murmured some words that shouldn't be written. She finally sat before him, waiting for him to say whatever he had come to tell her. She waited, and waited, and waited, and kept waiting until she finally lost her patience.

"Okay Zelos, why are you here?"

"Wow, what? Can't an old friend come to say hello?"

"In the last two years you didn't come here even once." Sheena answered, annoyed. "If it wasn't because of our last little adventure we wouldn't have seen each other. So tell me Zelos, why are you here!" She asked in a more demanding way this time.

Zelos looked at his tea and took a deep breath. "I guess you are right. I don't have any excuses for my actions, but I thought that you didn't want to see me and- Well, it doesn't really matter. Let's do what I've come here to do."

Zelos put a hand under his clothes and took out a letter with the royal emblem engraved in wax and gave it to Sheena.

"I know that you won't like this, but the princess told me to give it to you."

"Does this has something to do about the King's murder?" Sheena said as she opened the envelope. "I was about to send a letter in condolence in the name of Mizuho."

"Yes and no," Zelos said as he put a few sugar teaspoons into the tea. "Just read it."

Sheena began to read the letter with an intrigued look on her face but as she continued reading the look on her face became more and more astonished. When she finished, she stood up with one simple question on her mind.

"Is she nuts!"

"I already tried to convince her, but I'm afraid that Hilda drove the decision by her emotions."

"But I can't go to chase and kill those two! I'm the chief of Mizuho now! Why did she choose me!"

"She wanted the same person that once was sent to kill Sylvarant's chosen."

"Can I come in?" Orochi asked from the other side of the shoji interrupting the conversation.

"Yes, you can." Sheena answered annoyed.

"I'm sorry for listening from the other side, but-"

"Then you shouldn't have been listening in the first place, don't you think?" Zelos said to the spy.

"I apologize," Orochi said bowing his head as Zelos rolled his eyes. "But might have the solution to this… I could take your place, Sheena."

Sheena looked down as she thought about what Orochi had said, but Zelos talked before she could give her opinion.

"I don't think it's a good idea. Now that the king has died the princess has become the ruler or Tethe'alla, and disobeying her could be taken as a betrayal."

"Maybe that's an exaggeration," Sheena said. "But our relationships with Meltokio have never been very good and I wouldn't like to be the one responsible for making it worse," Sheena closed her eyes and took a deep breath before announcing her decision. "Fine, I'll do it. Orochi, while I'm out, I want you to take care of Mizuho."

"But Sheena, you can't-"

"If you don't want to do it as my friend, I will have to demand you to as your chief." Sheena said in a serious tone.

Zelos was surprised by her words. He didn't expect her to use her authority like that, but she was the chief of Mizuho after all and her new responsibilities demanded her to be more authoritarian.

"I understand, chief." Orochi said, bowing with a hand over his chest as he left the room.

"I will prepare myself to go as soon as possible. You can leave now, Zelos."

"Me? Leaving?" Zelos said, chuckling. "I'm going with you my lovely banshee. There is no way that I could leave my most beautiful flower without care."

"What!" Sheena asked in surprise.

"Where did that surprised look come from? I bet that if I were Lloyd you wouldn't look so surprised or annoyed, hmmm… I can't really tell, let's call it surprinnoyed. You wouldn't look so surprinnoyed at the idea."

Sheena blushed as she took a back step. "That's- That's not true. It's just that the princess has only asked for me to go."

"Well, she didn't say that you had to go alone, did she?" Zelos smiled, finding humorous the uncomfortable situation he had put her in. "Besides, those two were skilled and you might need some help if you want to deal with them."

Sheena wasn't really convinced by his words, but she had been placed between the sword and the wall, and after all, Zelos had made some good points about her mission.

"Fine, you can come with me." Sheena said defeated. "But don't do anything funny!"

Zelos put a hand over his chest as if he had just being wounded. "Your doubts about me hurt my feelings. I don't know where that idea might have come from."

Sheena crossed her arms and looked at the red-haired man before her with a cold gaze. Zelos took a back step and put his hands in a defensive position.

"Okay, okay." Zelos put a hand over his chest and looked to the roof with a serious gaze. "I promise you that I will never touch your body, unless you asked me to do so, of course."

"As if that could happen." Sheena responded, rolling her eyes as he just smiled at her.

Meltokio.

"Sebastian, do you know where Zelos is?" Emil asked to the butler.

Sebastian put a hand under his chin and began to recall the last hours. "He went to palace quite early this morning. And once he came back he took a Rheaird and left without giving any explanation."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"No, he didn't say anything to me."

"Well, Marta has gone to the palace to ensure that her father was fine after all that happened yesterday so I guess that I could join her and find some answers myself."

"I see. Anyway Master Zelos said that you and Miss Marta could stay here as long as you want."

"Well, thank you." Emil said smiling and bowing his head a little. "I apologize for any inconvenience that we might have caused but we will be leaving as soon as possible, we are done here. If Zelos comes back tell him that we went to Palmacosta."

"I will. Have a nice travel."

"Sure." Emil said as he opened the door ready to leave, "and thank you for everything."

When Emil went to the palace he saw a little group of soldiers in front of the church that took his attention. They were dressed with white tunics with a green tree on their chests, their hands and feet were covered with metallic gauntlets and boots and they didn't wear any helm. It was obvious that they weren't imperial knights. Moved by the curiosity Emil approached the group of no more than twelve men to have a closer look to them when Alexia opened the door of the church and come outside.

"So, what did the Pope say, ma'am?"

"Our orders are to find and kill them." Alexia informed to her soldiers. "Alice is known by her dirty tricks, she would say anything in order to win, if you find her don't let her fool you, finish her as soon as you have the chance. Decus is a quite skilled swordsman, so don't try to fight him alone."

"And what about the rest of the criminals that escaped?"

"The imperial knights will deal with them. Our job is to take down Decus and Alice as soon as possible and make them pay for their crimes. Any other questions?" None of the soldiers said anything. "Then prepare yourselves, we will meet in Sybak tomorrow morning."

As soon as their little chat was over they left to the palace.

It looked like Decus and Alice had been able to escape. Emil began to have some conflictive feelings about it. Even if he didn't want them to be killed he knew that Alice wasn't the forgiving kind of person, and even if he hated it, part of him wanted her dead.

"With Alexia in charge everything will be fine." A random person said calling Emil's attention.

"It looks like here the people here like her a lot." Emil said.

"With reason, she comes from one of the richest families in Meltokio but she has always followed the teachings of Martel and has helped the people around her no matter their status. And now she is the leader of the Templars."

"The Templars?" Emil asked.

"Yeah. You aren't from here are you? The Templars are an elite force that work in the name of Martel; They are leaded by the pope. They are the ones in charge to impart the divine punishment of Martel upon the sinners and those against the church of Martel."

That answered some questions and made others much more intriguing, "I see, well thank you for your time but I must leave now."

Emil walked to the palace thinking about those Templars. "It looks like the Church has much more power in Tethe'alla than in Sylvarant." Emil murmured to himself not really knowing what to think about that.

When he finally reached enough to the enormous royal structure he saw Marta sitting over the steps with her hands under her chin and the most annoyed expression that her face could make. Emil quickly ran toward his friend.

"Marta! What happened?" The blonde asked concerned.

"Those guards didn't let me in. It looks like the princess is depressed and she doesn't want to see anyone. But without her permission I can't go to see my father."

"Don't worry!" Emil said in a cheering up voice. "I'm sure that he didn't do anything yesterday so he should be fine."

"I guess you are right." She said not really convinced of her own words.

Emil put a hand over the shoulder of his companion and smiled to her.

"Believe me. I'm not saying this just to cheer you up. He will be fine, don't worry."

Marta looked to her mate and smiled back to him. "Thank you Emil."

"No problem, that's what I'm here for."

"Talking about it… Have you made a decision already?"

"About the question you asked me the other day?" Emil asked.

"Yes." She simply answered as if it was something obvious. "So, did you make a decision?"

"Yes I did." Emil answered smiling as he scratched the back of the head.

"And?" Marta asked biting her lower lip. She hadn't been so nervous in all her life. The answer to that question meant a lot to her. Her disappointment or her happiness depended of the answer of that question.

"Yes, I will." Marta smiled in joy at Emil's answer. "I have decided that I will move in with you to your father's house in Palmacosta. I don't want to go back with my aunt anyway."

Marta stood up and embraced him tightly as she pressed her check against his.

"I'm really happy to hear you saying that!"

Emil embraced her timidly not really sure about how to react.

"I'm happy too Marta but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm just moving in with you in the same house. We are just going to live together. It's nothing more than..."

But without letting him go further in his explanation Marta, driven by the enthusiasm, kissed Emil in the lips who taken completely by surprise didn't know how to react. It took her about five seconds to notice what had she done, and when she did, she pulled apart her lips and looked at the frozen and blushed face of Emil. He almost looked scared.

"Oh my… I'm sorry Emil, I know it was out of place. I was just so happy about it that I couldn't control myself."

Emil, completely blushed, turned around and lowered his blushed face.

"It's-It's fine Marta." He was so nervous that he barely could talk. "It-It-It doesn't matter. We- We should be going already."

Marta smiled to herself at his shy reaction and left with him the royal city.

Forest.

The first rays of the sun illuminated the forest while the annoying birds began chirp unceasingly.

Decus sat over the grass, supporting his back against a tree as he held his sword with one hand and played with the grass with the other. His eyes began to close slowly tired because of the long day. His head soon accompanied his eyelids as each second made it more and more relaxed, but once he closed his eyes completely and the sweet darkness was the only thing he could see he quickly opened them again and looked around alertly to ensure that everything was fine. He finally stood up and slapped his face as he began to make some exercises to keep himself awaken while he repeated 'don't fall asleep' over and over again in a mantric way.

It had been a long night and without Alice's pets he had had no choice but to be the one performing guard duty during the night despite how tired he was. But after all Alice had done for him, it was the least he can do. Anyway it didn't take him a lot of time to close his eyes falling half-asleep while standing, losing the perception of time momentarily. When he subconsciously noticed that he almost had fallen sleep he opened his eyes in alert; this time Alice was standing a few feet before him smiling wickedly.

"Ahhh!" Decus shouted in fear. "Oh, it's you. You scared me for a second, Alice."

Alice took a walked closer to his companion until their bodies were pressed together. Contrary to what one could expect for his usual behavior Decus blushed and began to breathe quickly because of her unexpected approach.

"I want to tell you something Decus." She said almost whispering as she stood on tiptoe to be as close of his mouth as she can. "I love you."

As Alice approached her lips Decus closed his eyes and lowered his head while he used his hands to embrace her. The shy kiss on the lips soon become a wet passional tongue kiss. He suddenly opened his eyes breaking the kiss as he felt a strong pain piercing his guts. Alice had stabbed him.

"I love how it tastes." Alice said in her sweetest voice as she licked the blood sliding from his lips.

Decus couldn't understand anything. "Why?" He asked as a tear of sadness rolled down his cheek.

Alice only smiled and twisted the dragger in his gut, making him bow in pain.

"Because I love you." She said smiling to him as he slowly fell supporting himself against the tree as he looked at her with a hand in his mortal wound. "I love you Decus, and I can't let these feelings make me weak. A person who is able to kill the one she loves, is a person without weakness."

Decus vision slowly began to fade away.

"I'm sorry Alice… In the end," he took his last breath. "I couldn't help you."

And with those words Decus died in the hands of his beloved.

"It was the only way." Alice said closing his dead eyelids.

Alice opened the already half opened Iron Maiden that she had used to cover herself from the wind, from inside and stood up yawning and opening the arms wide.

"What a weird dream." She thought as she rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning princess."

"Yeah, sure. What do we have for breakfast?"

"Fruits," Decus asked smiling.

"Fruits?" Alice asked obviously disappointed "What kind of breakfast is that!"

"We didn't get any groceries, and I didn't find any animals to hunt…" Decus took two pieces of fruit and gave them to her. "This is all I have found."

"You never fail to disappoint me." Alice said as she took the fruits. It wasn't what she would have liked to eat but it was better than nothing. "What have you taken for breakfast?" She asked accusingly.

"Nothing," He answered still looking to the ground ashamed by his failure to please Alice. "That's all I found."

Alice was just about to bite the second piece of fruit when she heard that. For a moment she looked at Decus and consider gave him what should be his half of the food but she soon erased those thoughts and began to eat the last piece of fruit. For a moment she considered putting another person's well-being before hers. That second was enough to worry her. But that person was no one other than Decus.

Alice gave a second look to the barely half eaten piece of fruit and, giving a deep sigh, tossed it to Decus who caught it in the air before it could touch the dirt.

"There, you can eat the remains."

Decus looked the half eaten fruit hungrily but instead of eating it he stood up and tossed it back to Alice's hands.

"I don't need to eat." He said closing his eyes and smiling arrogantly. "My body can last for days without food."

Alice took the fruit and launched it to his smiling face with enough strength to make his nose bleed.

"I said eat it you idiot!" She demanded. "With this thing around my neck I can't summon my pets or use any spells. You are the closest thing to a pet that I have right now! So eat it."

Decus brushed his nose and began to eat the piece of fruit.

"Damn! I need to get rid of this thing!" Alice said as she moved the mana inhibitor trying to get rid of it like an alley cat with a collar.

"That's not a problem. I know someone who could take it off."

"What! Who! Where!" Alice asked as she couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"The same guy who released all the prisoners."

"Didn't you do it?"

"Well… I freed Nickolay and he freed the prisoners to use them as a distraction, so in some kind of way I did it."

"So that Nickolay guy could get rid of this thing?" Alice asked, pointing at her metallic collar.

"Well, he said he could if he was back in his laboratory in Sylvarant."

"Great!" Alice said smiling. "We can go to whatever place he lives and force him to break this thing."

"Well… There is actually a good and a bad news." Decus said. "The good news is that we wouldn't need to force him. He was a half-elf too and I think he wouldn't mind to take it from you. The bad news is that I didn't ask him where he was from."

"Dumbo… Well at least we know that he was planning to go to Sylvarant so he will probably take a boat to go to Palmacosta." Alice stood up and looked to Decus. "The closest port is near Sybak if we leave now we should be there at night. So let's go! We can't lose any second here."

"Okey-Dokey." Decus said as he put his sword inside his Iron-Maiden and ran to catch up Alice.

Thank you everyone see you in the next chapter.