Tony: I apologize for the long wait! I didn't mean to take this long to get this chapter up, but my schoolwork overwhelmed me until two days after the day I said I would post, and then my computer crashed right after I finished typing this chapter up the first time. It's short and crappy, but I hope you all can live with that.
Reveiwer Responses: DAve and Bob – Thanks, and I will. (Eloriane) – Nice to see you again! I know that feeling. I'm glad you liked Guy's part. I don't like doing first person, and even less when it's not one of my characters, so that means a lot. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I, Tony (Marluxia of Avalon), do not own any part of Tales of the Abyss. All original characters, however, belong to me.
Tony: Enjoy Chapter Four.
Edit: I came back through and rewrote a large section of this chapter. Actually, I added to the chapter, since my beta decided that what I had written would be okay if I simply added to it... Plus I skipped a part of this... I'll shut up and let everyone enjoy the fixed version.
Bloody Nightshade
Chapter IV
Illusions
Sirris scowled at the poltergeist that had managed to sneak up on her. Even in her disguise as Aerys, she had remained extremely vigilant, and to see that carefully built barrier shattered… She sighed as she struck the killing blow. 'There's nothing wrong with appearing a little weak in front of these guys,' she decided. 'But, still, to think that it actually surprised me.'
"You aren't still beating yourself up over that last poltergeist, are you?" Tear asked. Sirris shrugged.
"I let my guard down, there's really no other way to say it," she said.
Guy sighed. "It wasn't your fault. Hell, half of those poltergeists would have snuck up on us if you hadn't seen them coming. You've helped us out a lot, Aerys," he told her. Sirris sighed.
"I know... But I'm not used to them sneaking up on me. I'm not gonna forget about it for a while," she replied. "By the way, Luke, you have about ten seconds to turn around before that bat hits you," she added. Luke turned around, just in time to raise his arms and protect himself from a direct attack.
"Thanks for the warning," he said quickly, launching himself into battle with one of the monsters that the bat had brought along. Sirris steeled herself and ran at a gremlin trio. A punch, a roundhouse kick, and a Demon Fist later, it was dead.
Looking around, she noted that all of the other monsters were either dead or being finished off. "Oh, come on. They could at least attempt to be a challenge," she grumbled. Guy scratched the back of his head.
"You really are bored, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. Sirris smiled and nodded. "Well, come on. We've got to get to wherever Arietta has the engineer."
"Right. Let's go," Luke agreed. Anise looked back at Ion, then walked over to Luke once she was certain he was safe.
"Luke? Are you getting that weird feeling like something bad's gonna happen?" she asked. Luke looked down at her and shook his head.
"No... Well, not quite. I've got a weird feeling, but it's not a bad one... More like the feeling that I'm going to have to make a big decision soon," he replied. Jade, who had been watching Sirris most of the day, sighed.
"To be honest, even I've got a bad feeling about this," he said quietly.
Sirris rolled her eyes. "Come on. We won't get anywhere if we don't keep going," she said. The others nodded and followed Luke as he lead them further into the abandoned mansion. Sirris noted that Jade wasn't the only aside from Luke who looked uncomfortable. The entire party seemed to be on edge, which was making Sirris feel uncomfortable as well.
"Hey, does anyone else hear that?" Luke asked, stopping to listen to something. Everyone stopped, and sure enough, the sound of someone singing reached their ears. Anise glanced at Ion, confused.
"That's definitely a girl singing, but it couldn't be Arietta, could it?" she asked. Jade shook his head.
"No. It's too close. Arietta should be on the roof," he replied. "Why don't we go and investigate?" he suggested. Luke nodded and headed to his left, carefully following the sound of the girl's voice. As they passed a hallway, Sirris stopped to listen.
"Luke, it's this way," she called to the redhead that had gone past the hall. Luke looked back at her.
"Are you sure?" he asked. Sirris nodded and headed down the hallway, leading them straight to one of the rooftop areas. A girl stood in a corner and raised her hand as she finished her song. Then, after a pause, she began singing again.
Sirris was curious about this girl. Her curly silver hair was extremely long, falling nearly to her knees. Light violet streaks danced through the curls, and a blue ribbon held her hair in something reminiscent of a ponytail. She wore a lavender top with blue ribbons on it. A short silvery-gray skirt and white boots that reached only to her mid-calf completed her outfit. When her second song concluded and she turned and smiled at them, Sirris noted that her eyes were a light blue that matched the ribbons on her outfit perfectly.
"Hello," the girl said in a sing-song voice. "Who are you?"
"Shouldn't we be asking you that? And what are you doing here?" Luke replied. Sirris and Tear exchanged a look and sighed. But the girl laughed.
"I'm Amai Sakkaku. It's nice to meet you all," she said. "I'm afraid I'm lost though."
"I'm Luke," the redhead replied. Sirris stepped forward.
"Aerys," she said curtly. After everyone introduced themselves, Amai asked to join them.
"I won't get in the way, and I'm healer," she told them. Luke nodded.
"That's fine. We could use a second healer, anyway. Tear's the only healer to take care of all six of us that fight, and even Ion gets hurt sometimes, though we try to keep him safe," he said. Amai giggled.
"Okay. Let's go!" she replied. They followed Sirris back down the stairs, only to run into a poltergeist that seemed to be carrying a blue orb around in its mouth. Sirris, upon seeing the monster, glanced back, then charged at it. Luke followed her, and Guy and Anise headed for the bats that had followed the poltergeist into battle. After dispatching of the monsters, Sirris picked the orb up and examined it.
"Hey, didn't we see a poltergeist with a red orb earlier?" she asked.
"Yeah. Why?" Luke replied. Sirris smiled.
"The lock on the door to the basement is purple, and red and blue make purple," she said. Jade crossed his arms.
"Hmm… An interesting puzzle. But the poltergeist earlier ran away when we tried to attack it," he said. Sirris looked down at Mieu.
"That's where you come in," she told the cheagle. Mieu looked up at her curiously. "Come on, Mieu. I've got a plan." She scooped the little furball up and took off towards the main hall, where they had seen the poltergeist in question floating around earlier. When they arrived, Sirris turned to the rest of them. "Ready?" she asked. Then, carefully stepping out of the hallway, she took aim.
"Fire, Mieu," she ordered. The fireball hit the poltergeist perfectly, and after gently putting the cheagle on the ground, Sirris ran forward and attacked it, with Luke right on her heels. Once they had killed it, Sirris picked up the red orb and started down the stairs, not even noticing when Amai tried to cast a healing arte on a small gash in her arm.
"Aerys, you're bleeding," Amai told her when the arte failed. Sirris looked down, and sure enough, her brown dress had a tear in it and blood was seeping out of a wound. She scowled and pulled an apple gel out of her wing pack before popping it into her mouth. Jade dropped back to walk next to Amai, who was hanging in the back.
"Your healing arte didn't work on her, did it?" he asked quietly. Amai shook her head.
"It had no effect whatsoever," she confirmed. "It would have worked perfectly otherwise." Jade's eyes narrowed as he watched 'Aerys' enter the room with the locked door. She placed the two orbs into two of the slots and watched as they flowed down and became purple. The door disappeared and they started down the stairs.
"Aerys, do you always fight without a weapon?" Jade asked. Sirris looked back at him and blinked.
"Why?" she asked. Jade shrugged.
"Just curious," he replied. Guy shot a curious looked toward Jade, then turned his attention to 'Aerys,' who had just reached the bottom of the stairs. They were turning another corner when a cry of pain caught their attention. Sirris rushed forward, immediately bringing their attention to the problem.
On the floor, a redhead was bleeding from a wound on his side. Amai ran over to heal him while the others focused on the doll that had attacked him. As Luke finished off the doll, Sirris noted that the redhead had disappeared.
"Well, that's a hell of a way to say 'thanks,'" Luke grumbled. Sirris, however, crossed her arms.
"Wasn't that Asch the Bloody?" she asked Amai, who was standing off to the side healing. Amai nodded.
"Yes. He seemed to be in a rather foul mood," she replied quietly.
"He's always in a foul mood, from what I hear," Sirris countered. "Come on. We'e still got that engineer to help. Arietta should have him on the roof." Without another word, Sirris headed towards the stairs on the other side of the room, ignoring the machine that stood in the middle.
"Colonel, do you know what that big machine is?" Anise asked. Guy had been looking at it as well. Jade, however, simply adjusted his glasses.
"I can't be sure. I'll share my thoughts on it once I'm certain," he replied. Just then, a mouse skittered past the group. Anise shrieked and grabbed onto the closest person, which unfortunately happened to be Guy. A few long seconds passed...
"Gah!" the blonde screamed. Sirris, who had gone on ahead slightly, ran back, then sighed with frustration.
"Anise, are you alright?" Tear asked. Anise stood up carefully. Jade, however, focused in on Guy.
"That didn't look like a mere aversion to females to me. What happened in your past that would cause this kind of reaction?" he wondered out loud. Guy stood.
"I honestly don't know. I wasn't like this as a kid," he replied. Sirris couldn't help but scowl.
"We all done wasting time yet?" she asked bitterly. Jade turned to look at her.
"You seem to be in a hurry," he observed. She shot a look reminiscent of a glare in his direction before turning and walking away. "Not to mention the fact that her mood has worsened considerably since Kaitzur," he added.
Luke sighed and began to follow the 'blonde' up the stairs.
(Jade's POV)
I watched Aerys as she killed yet another poltergeist. Her attacks, which had seemed less aimed before, were now made with deadly precision. I was almost certain now that the girl before us wasn't actually an eleven-year-old named Aerys.
"Aerys, are you right-hand dominant or left-hand dominant?" I asked. The girl turned to me with a cold expression on her face that mirrored my own.
"Right-hand. Why?" she replied. I narrowed my eyes as she turned away.
"Just curious," I found myself repeating once again. 'You've become an awfully good liar, Siri,' I caught myself thinking. 'Though it's necessary for what he forces you to do, isn't it?'
And as Sirris walked on down the halls, I couldn't help but wonder what could have come out of that mistake had I told the truth afterwards...
Sirris sighed. they were on the roof. And so was Arietta. Unfortunately, the secret 'Seventh God-General,' Luke the Idiot, was not on the roof at this time. Sirris thought about it and amended her thought. No, Luke would never be a God-General. But the title of 'Idiot' was quite fitting.
"More circles," she muttered. "I hate circles. Round and round they go until you're dizzy and you stumble into a ditch and die."
"That's a really pessimistic way to look at it," Anise told her as they walked back down the steps they had just finished climbing. Sirris sighed, but wisely chose not to say anything.
"Let's hurry. Who knows what Dist took Luke for?" Guy said. Sirris looked around at the group. As they came around a corner, a flash of red caught Sirris' eye.
"It's looks like Asch the Bloody is still hanging around," Sirris warned everyone. Sure enough, when they rounded the next corner, they spotted the head of red hair walking down the hallway before turning again. Sirris turned to look at Guy, and the two nodded to each other before taking off, the others on their heels.
The next turn sent the running into the area near the large fon machine from before. Asch, it seemed, was under attack from Sync. Guy and Sirris rushed forward to attack the green-haired God-General. Guy's blade missed his face, but knocked his mask away. Sirris' eyes narrowed, but she didn't have long to think before back-flipping out of the way.
"Dammit, they're already here!" Sync cursed, putting his mask back on. "This was an unauthorized mission. And you," he pointed to Asch. "Don't think you'll be able to get away with simply deserting like this!" Asch glared back.
"I'll take my chances," he growled.
"Fine. I have to leave, but I trust Arietta will take care of you. She's waiting on the roof," Sync said before running off.
'Aerys' walked over to the God-General.
"Apparently a short attention span is a genetic defect that runs in the Fabre bloodline," she grumbled to him, holding a hand out to help him to his feet. "I tried to get your attention eight times." As she looked him over, she realized that he wasn't wearing his uniform, instead wearing a simple black and gray outfit.
"Whoa! There are two Lukes?" Anise cried. Luke, who had just been freed from the fon machine stared at Asch in a mix of shock and horror, and Asch glared back.
"The idiot over there is the Luke you guys know. Asch is the original Luke," Sirris practically spat. Everyone's attention was turned to her.
"How do you know that?" Jade asked her. She walked over to Luke and moved his hair and collar, revealing a light blue scar.
"That's how I know," she said simply. Suddenly, Guy ran forward with his sword drawn in an attempt to attack her. Sirris flipped backward, landing in the working area down below. However, as she flew through the air, the blonde wig fell from her head, revealing crimson hair. When she turned her glare on the group, her violet eyes faded to silver and gold.
"Nightshade," Guy hissed. Luke and Asch stared at her, shocked, while everyone with the exceptions of Jade and Amai drew their weapons. Jade stared down at her, a mix of emotions hidden behind a cold mask. Amai, however, simply smiled at the girl down below before quietly removing herself from everyone's line of sight and disappearing.
"Who were you after this time?" Anise asked, staying between Ion and the assassin below them. Sirris growled.
"Arietta. Now if you'll excuse me," she muttered, stalking over to the steps on the far side.
"Jade, why aren't you arresting her?" Tear asked the statue of a man behind her. Sirris turned around at the sound of the Colonel's name and hissed.
"If he wanted to arrest me, he would have done it years ago!" she spat before running away and disappearing. Jade looked stricken.
As everyone turned their attention to the colonel, no one noticed one of the redheads slipping away.
"What did she mean?" Guy asked. Jade shook his head.
"That is a part of my past I would rather not bring up. At any rate, let's just say that I didn't expect that mistake to result in a fifteen-year-old girl being the world's most feared assassin," he replied. Anise looked at him in shock.
"Fifteen? There's no way she could be older than me!" she cried in surprise. Jade sighed.
"Unfortunately, that's exactly how old Sirris is. She'll turn sixteen in Shadow-Decan," he told her. "By the way, that engineer is still on the roof waiting for us."
"Yes, let's go get him back," Tear agreed. The group headed up to the roof carefully. When they arrived, they watched as Sirris dodged Arietta's friends and charged straight at her. Arietta growled and dropped the stuffed doll she was carrying to dodge the assassin's attack. Guy ran forward to help her, noting the red flashing in and out of his peripheral vision. Very soon, Sirris was trying to hold off the entire group, as well as Arietta and her friends.
"Enough!" she cried, jumping into another mid-air backflip and landing on the edge of the roof. "Since it's obvious I won't be able to finish this, I might as well leave."
"And where do you think you're going to go?" a new voice asked. Half of Sirris' opponents turned to see Van standing at the top of the stairs. Sirris glared at him, and he glared back. "There's nowhere for you to escape."
"Watch me," she challenged. Then, standing up out of her crouch, she turned and launched herself off of the roof. Everyone on the roof rushed forward and watched as she dived into the sea below. A few moments later, much to their shock, she resurfaced and swam to shore, where a small platoon of Oracle Knights was waiting.
They watched in shock as she killed all of them and sheathed her midnight-bladed dagger in her boot once more. Then, after looking up at the roof, she took off towards the woods. Van turned to Arietta then.
"What were you doing, destroying the ferry and then kidnapping the engineer?" he asked angrily. She shuffled her feet.
"I'm sorry… Dist asked me to…" she muttered. Van sighed, then around the roof.
"Asch, what are you doing here? And where's Luke?" he inquired. As the others realized that the redhead among them was, in fact, Asch, his second question began floating around some more.
Then, acting on a whim, Asch turned around to look at the woods in the distance.
"He went with Sirris," he said simply. And as the others turned their gazes toward the woods, the realized that he was right. There were not one, but two red-haired teens running towards the forest; one in brown, one in white.
Tony: Surprise! Anyway, I'd like to explain Amai's name a little. Amai means sweet/naïve in Japanese, and Sakkaku means illusion. Well, who liked my attempt at a cliffhanger? By the way, I'll probably edit this chapter later on, because not only is it shorter than the original version, it also happens much faster and one part is a little backwards… Well, I'll shut up now. REVIEW!
Edit: Okay, so it took a while to fix... I'm sorry! Don't kill me, please!
