My sincere apologies my darling fans, I realise it's been quite awhile since my last update, so my OCD reccomends I give at least some detail into why; that being it was school holidays and I write this on my school laptop and that was on the floor gathering dust for two weeks. Then when it was fine my home laptop broke and my possible update times became seriously limited for I had to use my parents comp and my mum isn't happy with me using it because she thinks me and my sister are breaking the comp by doing it when actually it's because my dad , I bet you that because he broke our old one.

Now I'll shut up, and hope this being the biggest chapter I've ever written (9,000 words exactly) Makes up for the fact of my no updating.

Disclaimer: No I don't own this, I'm just in a plot to steal the legal rights to say I own it, no nothing wrong, nothing wrong with what I'm saying, no not at all.

Truth and Lies

Chapter 4: Stalking

Lightning didn't know how long she'd been away from everyone, with her arms wrapped around her and legs held close; sitting on the dirt ground. She no longer cried. Now she was silent, her mind moving a mile a minute; and spoken words weren't needed. She was angry, frustrated and dejected.

To think the Veil's had been framed for murder of royals. That's just plain nuts!

And apparently Eden's council were the ones to convince them of such a preposterous idea. All her life in Bodhum, she'd been told they were made up of some of the smartest people in Cocoon. Sure, she'd always had her doubts about that, but still, nothing was making sense right now. She knew for sure her kind was hated and marginalised, even hunted like rats in some parts. The fact that the people of this country could so strongly believe in such ideas both sickened and hurt her deeply.

She breathed in a cold breath. Night was slowly falling; people were returning to their houses and running about. Children gave her looks of wonder, adults of curiosity. Of course, they had no idea why she was there; it wasn't like they had been blamed for something like what her kind was. 'The catastrophe of Eden'. She ran the name over her tongue, even that made her feel like this was something well known. She felt so stupid. It was so clear that Bodhum had been sheltering her from it. Was that one of the reasons why Snow didn't want her to leave? So that she wouldn't have to go and find out the truth of what happened to her?

"Damn it!" She cursed under her breath, why was she even thinking about the oaf in the first place? She didn't give a shit what his reasons for it were, they were clear enough! Why concern herself about it?

Lightning forced herself up. This area was a cold place on Cocoon; she'd need a roof over her head if she was not to freeze. She wandered about, trying to see a house large enough that it might have some spare space. She found she had gone into the richer area of town as she did so, surely they must have room for her to spend one night. She'd already searched this town over, it was so small. Earlier she had used a group of kids to help her; she'd figured it'd get the work done faster as well as burn of some of their energy. Might as well make it easier on their parents, with kids like that they'd need it. She had gotten no results besides the negative, and no one in this town, it seemed, had even heard of one person with bloody pink hair.

She found a suitable house and knocked on its door. A large man opened it, and if she was anyone else she would have called him intimidating. He looked her up and down with dark eyes before asking in a deep gruff voice, "You lookin' for a place to stay?"

She blinked at him. He said it in such a sure tone it felt like he had read her mind.

"Y…yeah."

He let out a loud sigh. "Got told by meh friend some out of town chick with pink 'air 'ad stayed at 'is place last night. Don't know any with dat description so I just guessed you'd be 'er." He beat his fingers and nodded his head to the left with another sigh.

"Maria should 'ave some spare room.'Er eldest just moved out, so try 'er. Up six 'ouses, on the left."

Lightning gave the tall man a small smile and mouthed the words, 'thank you' before going in the direction he'd pointed. It had been some trouble understanding him with his accent, he didn't even pronounce the letter 'H' at all. At least by now she'd heard enough people that talked like it, so she was getting used to it.

She came up to the house that supposedly belonged to the woman known as Maria. She liked the house before she knocked loudly on the door. She heard rushing feet on stairs before a plump petite woman with, like most in the town, impossibly dark brown eyes and hair bust out the door, standing exhausted in the doorway.

"You the girl dat stayed with Edge? You need an 'ouse for a night, I take it." A light voice got out though rushed breathes.

"Yes, that'd be nice if you don't mind. You don't have to if you don't want to, I can always go somewhere else." She said, not trying to seem like she was rude.

But the woman would have none of that, she waved her arms out in front of her, stating between each rushed breath,

"No no no, don't you go saying dat dear!" She breathed in deeply and let it out before she continued, "Maria's got the best place you could 'ope to stay. " She smiled and without another word pulled a startled Lightning in with her, shutting the door behind them.

Maria was smiling brightly while leading her over to a chair where she could rest her legs. Lightning could hear scampering feet in the back rooms, showing they were not the only ones in the house. The older woman left for a moment and she could hear her talking to the others before she came back with the same ever bright expression firmly planted on her face.

"Just tellin' me children about you, don't 'ave to worry or nothing. Just don't want 'em getting startled by a stranger in the 'ouse." The strawberry-blonde haired girl nodded saying she understood.

Maria's chocolate eyes began observing her closely; she didn't like the look but didn't expect that the woman would stop by simply being told to do so, so she put up with it.

"From Bodhum, are you?" She asked suddenly.

The other was barely expecting the question and almost jumped. "Y…yeah, how did you…?"

"I 'ave been there you know. Everybody 'ad that 'air. Saw this real pretty young lass with raven 'air, and plaits just like those; I remember 'er well. Shame, she wouldn't be such a young lass anymore though." The woman sighed. "Oh 'ow time flies."

She shook her head, forcing the memory out, and instead deciding on what may be a better topic at the moment.

"I see you got nothing on you. No one travels that light. Do you need anything?" She asked politely.

"Ah, no." Lightning shook her head in refusal at the offer. "I'll be fine."

Maria gave her a look that said she wouldn't take that.

"Look 'ere, missy. You ain't got any food or supplies with you. There ain't no way, no 'ow I'm letting you leave 'ere like that. What if you get 'ungry and ain't got nothing? And you sure as 'eck ain't gonna get so lucky to 'ave an 'ouse over your 'ead each night. I gotta give you something or I'm gonna feel 'orrible."

The no 'H' was getting annoying.

"No look, I can get my own stuff, I still have some money on me." She continued, trying to get the woman to stop her pleading.

"Why waste money when there's an old woman right 'ere, ready to give you anything you need? Just let me so that money could go towards something more useful, please?" Her look was stern but clearly begging.

Lightning however was still being stubborn about it. It was far too rude of her to let a woman - that she had only known existed for the last five minutes - be so generous, enough to give her free stuff like this.

"No. Look, you're already giving me a roof over my head and that's enough for me, alright?"

"I may be poor but my family isn't as big as it used to be. I've got spare sheets and the like. I make my own vegetables and fruits and 'arvest has been generous this year, so I 'ave plenty to give you."

"But I-"

"No buts!" She was interrupted by the yell. "Look if you didn't want someone to do this you should 'ave 'ad your own supplies! Didn't you 'ave anything at all?"

"I had a bag." She said slowly.

"And what 'appened to that?" The older woman sighed outwardly.

"It…" was literally ripped to pieces and eaten by a behemoth. "I lost it…?" She hoped the brunette would take the answer and wouldn't ask questions.

"At least you 'ad something but you don't anymore, so let me give you supplies to replace the ones you lost." She was sternly pleading for the younger girl to actually listen to her.

"I don't..."

"You do need it." She stopped her.

"Fine!"

Maria let out a big smile and nodded before saying,

"Thanks you, it's always nice to 'elp someone in need. I'll jus' go and get a suitable bag to 'old the supplies. Should 'ave something round 'ere."

The older woman dashed out of the room. Her footsteps could be heard speeding up the stairs. Lightning sighed, looks like she'd just met someone more stubborn than herself. Why couldn't the old woman just understand that if she didn't want help, she didn't want help?

A minute passed and she could no longer hear her, instead the only sounds were children playing in the rooms beyond. She wondered how much Maria had, it sounded like a lot. Could they all be hers? Or was she looking after others as well? It was common in the smaller towns that woman would raise both their own and other children. It was nothing weird; it was simply something that happened in towns such as this that suffered more from diseases. To rich people, most diseases were nothing bad; they had warm beds and medicine capable of keeping them in good health. Sadly, this was an uncommon case for most of Cocoon. The country was covered with towns full of poverty, and only the three great cities were exempt from it all. Nautilus, the city of dreams, full of entertainment for anyone rich enough to afford it; Palumpolum, a city with the best medicines and cleanliness on the entirety of Cocoon; most rich folk chose to live there. And last but not least, Eden, the capital, the centre of business and home of the royal family. One thing to remember about that place was that you should never mess with one of their knights if you valued your life; they were notorious for being bloodthirsty psychopaths. Though it was their job to protect the royals, they took their job goddess damn seriously.

Lightning lay back into the chair. That Maria woman was taking her time and she had not a thing to pass the time. Of course she didn't, she was only here at this house so she didn't have to suffer in the cold. Cocoon was always cold here, summer or winter. In fact, about the only warm places on Cocoon were Bodhum and Palumpolum, she was lucky to live there once even if it wasn't for that long. Though some people would probably take eleven years as a lot, she put it in comparison to the rest of her life. Apparently Pulse was warm, and apparently its weather was so unpredictable it was completely nuts. One day it'd be pouring down rain the next it'd be burning hot. Heck, she'd been told by a tourist years ago he'd wandered over into Pulse one time and he could remember it raining so much he could barely see ahead of him, with wind like ice piecing into him to add to it. He'd sheltered in a cave for an hour, and when he came back out not a cloud existed in the sky and it was so hot he was about to melt. Surely something was wrong there.

She eyed the table wondering if she could rest her head on it, all the crying she'd done today had left her feeling so tired, and she had to wait for Maria to return before she could have a place set up for her. Deciding there was nothing wrong with it she lay her head down on the cold wood, closing dreary eyes as she did so. Against her eyes was blackness, dreams refused to materialise in her mind. It was all so blank, but she didn't mind it; even so she could feel her sleepiness leaving regardless of its slow pace. Lightning was not bothered by the nights she couldn't dream, if she did it was always that same damn one anyway. It was a memory from years ago, long before now but long after she'd lost everyone precious to her. The heat of the flames and freezing droplets of rain was so vivid to her it was like she could still feel the sensations. It was something she wanted to forget, but it was something she wanted to hold on to, it was the night she decided to try and take control of her powers, the night she decided to stop being so weak. The only part that could bother her about it was that oaf, because he was there; but if he wasn't, this memory wouldn't even exist. She forced it out when it attempted to drag itself in, for now, she wanted to forget, if only for a little while.

"A 'em" Maria cleared her throat.

Lightning's eyes opened wide in shock, and she tensed, but calmed down right away seeing it was only the ageing face of the kind woman standing beside her.

"I'm quite sorry m'dear, you looked mighty comfortable, but there ain't no way a guest of mine is going to sleep like that."

The rosette shook her head, further waking herself up. She'd almost completely fallen asleep just then. It hadn't been comfortable at all, she was surprised it happened.

"No, it's alright. If I sleep like that I'm going to have killer aches in the morning anyway, it was best to wake me up," she stated, and rose from the chair. She noticed Maria was holding a small backpack in her arms. From the looks of things she had already put certain things in there already, most likely blankets and such.

"This used to belong to my son but he doesn't need it no more, so it's fine for you to use." Maria explained before walking over to the minuscule kitchen and filling the remainder of it with food she'd eventually need. It consisted mostly of fruits and vegetables; meat was only something rich people had and if this woman did have some, surely she would keep it for the use of her and the children living in this house.

Lightning said nothing as Maria finished, the woman flashing a smile as she set the bag down on the counter. The younger one wondered what she meant by her son not needing it anymore; hopefully she only meant that he'd moved out.

"I noticed that weapon of yours; don't get ones like that in this part of the world." The older woman began, attempting to start a conversation. Lightning looked down at the gunblade she'd placed at her side; Maria was far from the first to ask about the weapon.

"What about it?" She inquired.

"I've only 'eard about ones like those in Eden, but you couldn't be from there could you? I mean your 'air style and colour is very different from those type of people, in fact the colour is different from most of Cocoon's people."

Lightning ran a hand through the pink locks, spinning her fingers over the three braids at the back. What caused this woman to be so interested in her hair, exactly?

"Of course it's a different style, I'm from Bodhum. But seriously, you've never seen someone with pink hair before?"

Maria shook her head right after the words had left her mouth, a reply soon accompanied the movement.

"No, Most folks only have brown, there's black too but it's rare. Cocoonians usually always got 'bout the same, I've heard there is blonde in Eden, those knights all had it but one. Now, Pulsians are a totally different story. Now it wouldn't surprise me if you could find one with rainbow 'air, because they got the whole colour of the rainbow. You see someone with that 'air I betcha they got Pulse blood in there somewhere."

Lightning blinked at the last part; she'd seen plenty of people with unusual hair colours. Did that really mean they had Pulsian ancestors? Did it mean she did? How much could she trust this woman's knowledge anyway?

She wasn't sure what her mother was, all she knew was that woman had hair far brighter than hers. It wasn't above Cocoonians to treat Pulsians badly, it wouldn't have surprised her if the women from that experiment were originally from Pulse, anything so not to waste their own, no doubt that would be the train of thought those men had.

So if Maria was right that she had some in her, was she right about only people from Eden having blonde hair? Snow had blonde hair and he'd lived his whole life in Bodhum, and the town knew his parents well before they had died; his whole family in fact. Did it just mean some far off distant relatives of his had originally come from Eden? If so why the hell did they move to a town like Bodhum? It was bright and sunny but the living conditions in Eden are second to Palumpolum only, and that town is full of doctors and such.

"I'll just go set up a bed for you darl." Maria ran past her into another room and out of sight. She remembered to thank her for this before she did go to bed, in case she woke up first and didn't get the chance.

…

Rays of sun light drifted in from the windows, casting a pale glow on the room and ridding it of its darkness. Lightning slowly roused into the world of the awake, blinking tired eyes against the sudden brightness to let her eyes adjust. She had slept on an old rickety bed with torn blankets, she hadn't expected any better from a town like this. How could she when she'd already had a good enough glimpse of the outside?

She pulled herself up out of the bed and stretched, it had been none too comfortable but certainly a lot better than sleeping on the cold ground. She picked up her gunblade and rested it in its holster before picking up the bag Maria had given her the previous night. She adjusted it on her back before setting off and leaving the house in the early morning light, unaware of the set of eyes latched onto her as she disappeared from sight.

…

"Are you so sure about her?" A high pitched voice questioned seriously to her companion, shadows of an unsureness lingered in the corners of her eyes.

"Am I ever wrong? Hell girl I wouldn't have been following her for the past five freaking days if I wasn't sure!" A deeper voice still that of a woman answered back.

The two women pushed against a building obscured in the shadows of the rising sun. One small, one tall; both with an aura that they weren't to be messed with. They would have been wearing average Cocoonian clothes if it wasn't for the furs that they wore as belts and accessories. Blood red and yellow dies ran down the lengths of their short hair with beads tying multiple strands into messy braids. From one look it was clear they were Pulsians, and dangerous at that, from the sight of their weapons.

"What if she catches us?" the smaller one continued, still unsure.

""If she does, she does, I'm just doing that woman's dirty work and that's that." The taller one leant against the building more; her accent was thicker than her accomplice. "It may be unavoidable that she will figure it all out, it would be better that way wouldn't it?" She looked down to the smaller one for an answer, who nodded in response.

"I guess, so you're going to keep this up?"

"For as long as I can. Hell she might lead us to others, damn now would that make the bitch happy as hell."

The smaller one gave another nod before taking off after her friend who had begun running along the streets.

This was going to be a hard mission; that pink haired woman looks mighty nasty.

…

Sun lit up the white room, she was in a hospital in Palumpolum; the best on the whole of Cocoon. A woman with hair the colour of a perfect rose stood leaning out a window, soft pale skin caught in the sunlight.

This was Solace, Eden's one and only female knight, and the youngest at that. They had arrived here early in the morning; the young boy she had been guarding had fallen asleep long before. He was visiting his mother at the moment. For the time being she had chosen to stay away from her room, she didn't want to catch the boy crying. He had always had a problem with anyone seeing his tears; he knew he had to be strong, but he never was. He was still so young, but had gone through so much already. It could never compare to her of course, but it wasn't like many could with a person such as her.

She and the other knights had been given rooms for the night, it wasn't as lavish as what had been given to the royals but did well enough for them. This place was extravagant; any room would have been enough. She, being the only woman was alone, as no one fully trusted men being so close to someone of her age; she had reached the age of adulthood no more than two months ago.

She sighed quietly. She had stayed up so late, not taking her eyes of the sleeping boy the entire trip. She was only four years older, so knight or not, she felt worn out too. Her conversation with Cid had brought back memories of what she wished not to remember. His abilities annoyed her to no end; that he could know where she was no matter where she was got to her the most. But yesterday, what he said had put her in a far worse mood than that power ever could. There had been two Veils in that crowd. When there are only four left in the entire world, the chances seemed too impossible to be true.

But it had to be true, he couldn't be wrong about something like that, he certainly wouldn't have lied about it. She needed to force this out. She couldn't worry about that kind of stuff anymore; she had a different life now. What happened in the past happened in the past, and was no longer any concern of hers.

Solace's hands clenched the window sill tighter. If she wanted this out maybe she could find something to distract herself with. But what the hell could she use to distract herself? She hadn't befriended any of the other knights and she knew they looked down on her for both her age and gender. She knew there was Cid but he wasn't here at the moment, he was out doing whatever Cid does when he had nothing to do. It wasn't her shift to make sure both the royals were all safe just yet and she didn't even know where the Duke was to begin with. There was that chance that his son was no longer visiting his mother and she could try to find him. If he was no longer with her there was a massive chance he'd be hiding somewhere crying right now. If so, she wanted to offer her help. It was the least she could do.

Gathering up her resolve, she dashed out of the room to find him.

…

As this was a very expensive place to treat the sick, it wasn't the biggest of places. It couldn't have compared to the castle at all, that was the biggest building in the world. Still it wasn't a small place, Palumpolum was known for large structures. The walls and all her surroundings were made of the whitest marble, her closely it reminded her of the castle, without the stain glass windows of course.

It was such an eerie place to be, and having to know it housed dying human beings only magnified the effect. She walked down the corridors knowing full well where she was heading. Each step was confident as she fully let out a knightly aura. She usually didn't do this but this was not Eden and as such the passers-by didn't know her like they did back in her city, she didn't want to be regarded as less than she was from simply being a woman. She still had on her armour, minus a helmet but she had only worn it when she had been out of the carriage last night. It was clear anyway she was a woman, what harm did neglecting to wear it at a time like this do? She only wore it the few times it was truly needed.

She passed by the room she was intending to go to and found she could hear nought inside besides slow breathing, more than likely belonging to someone sleeping. That was answer enough. Who she was searching for had already left, though a part of her was happy for something else; the breathing she could hear was steady and untroubled, surely it meant his mother was fine for now at least. She hoped when she did happen to find him he wasn't crying, but she could only wish.

…

Solace walked down many more corridors while searching for the boy, cursing and silently wishing that this place weren't so large. It was now past midday, she'd been searching since an hour after she'd woken up. That was a long time ago.

It was the quiet sound of tears that alerted her of someone else's presence. She was near the middle of the hospital at the moment, besides a courtyard full of flowers which, she predicted, may have been to lighten up this eerie abode. He was leaning against a wall on the side, hidden behind a large lavender bush. She entered and sat down next to his crying form, without a word to make her known first.

He was so caught up he didn't notice the rose red hair to his side; he didn't hear her slow breathing. He was completely unaware of the sad face looking down in his direction. It was until she rested her slender gloved hand on his shoulder did he notice anyone was even in the vicinity.

"Hope?" She asked in a quiet voice. He looked up, shocked, and jumped back. She could now see his tear stained face.

"Solace! How long were you there!" He yelled, yet to calm down from her sudden appearance.

"Just a second, don't worry." She sighed; he must have noticed what she was feeling. He felt guilty for bringing her down as well; they'd been friends for as long as he could remember.

"Is she alright? Your mother, I mean." She asked in a strained voice, being as careful as she could with what she said.

Hope didn't respond for some time. Slowly he moved back to sit next to her with his back against the wall, but no words were said. Clearly he was struggling not to let his tears fall; the droplets cornered his green eyes. His breathing wasn't the steadiest, she felt wrong to be feeling so sorry for him, but it was hard not to.

If he was ever planning to talk about it, it didn't seem to be now. Solace let her eyes wander around the garden, taking in the colourful sight. There was a tiny stone fountain in the middle, with water flowing out and vines curling up the cracks. Around the fountain were white lilies and further from that were bushes of camellias. Each different type of flower created a row in a well-rounded circle. The middle row was roses of all colours, and in front of behind those were three rows, first of red roses, then yellow roses and finally white roses. Near the entrance in front of them was a row of lavenders, she could spot a bee or two being tempted towards them. On all four sides of the square courtyard was a path straight through to the fountain from the white marble walls. The courtyard itself was made of a light grey stone. In the midst of being distracted because of her travelling eyes, she nearly forgot she was not the only one present.

"She could barely stay awake the whole time I was there, her voice was so croaky." Hope spoke up after a long silence.

Solace's eyes snapped over to his direction, she'd almost missed what he said despite the quietness of the area.

"It must have hurt seeing her like that. I always felt dreadful when my mother got sick." Solace patted him on the head, on the two small loops held together with a white gold clip.

"Your mother?" Questioning green eyes searched her face. "I've never heard you mention her before."

The rose haired girl let out one long sigh and rested her head against the cold marble behind her. "It's not a nice story, Hope. I wouldn't like to remember it much besides telling someone about it." She rolled her shoulders in circles taking tension out of them; the armour was a killer to wear for a prolonged amount of time. This position itself was less than comfortable to add to her soreness.

"Could you please tell me about her? I mean it's not like I'm ordering you to but…just please, I'm curious." His eyes were as earnest as they could be and she knew he wasn't kidding.

She thought over if she should, it wasn't something nice to say to anyone, age didn't matter. But they'd been friends since she'd come to Eden. She'd been brought in by a Knight in training and had been raised to be one herself since then. No one was even remotely near her age besides servant's children and she had been considered too high class to go near them, much less play with them. Hope would have ended up much the same, but it had been decided for them to be playmates of sorts when they were younger, that solved it. Elders had it in mind that if they didn't have childish fun when they were younger they would want it when they were older and wouldn't concentrate on what was important. They from personal experience knew this was an easy thing to happen, and from their life position that could be almost dangerous.

She decided that she should, it wasn't nice that's for sure, but she knew much about him shouldn't he know more about her?

"Fine I'll tell you, but don't expect any great detail," she stated, and waited for his response.

He nodded and replied, "It's alright; at least it's something."

She waited a second before she continued. She had to think of a place to start, as there was a lot to say.

"Well the place I grew up in was less than nice, though it would've been worse for my mother considering she knew life beyond it." She sighed, thinking how to continue what she was explaining at current.

"The others in our situation were sorta like family to us, but the ones that weren't treated us badly." Dark shadows edged her eyes; she was getting to a gloomier part.

"There was one man in particular, he treating mum like she was nothing, not even human. I saw him doing it sometimes, but never the worst part."

"What was the worst part?" The boy cut in. She looked down and swallowed a lump in her throat, surprised at herself for even saying this.

"He was my father you know, but it wasn't like my parents had any feelings for each other, mum didn't even want to be anywhere near him." She paused and turned her eyes away from his direction. "You can probably understand where I'm going with this…" she laughed, but no happy feelings were expressed in it; it was a painful sound, filled with an aura of despair.

"He knew who I was, but never cared. Whenever I've seen him since her death, he didn't even realise who I was. He doesn't care that she died, she's a part of a past he left in the past."

Hope stayed deadly silent. He knew her mother was dead, and that Solace had lived a bad life previous to coming to Eden, but he didn't know those details about her father. She was in another place, where only the pain could reach her. Unless he interrupted he knew she'd keep going, but he didn't know what to say.

"I can barely remember the day she died, everything was red, and I was so scared. I kept thinking, why was this happening? What had we done wrong for people to hate us? For the goddess to want to end us?" Her breathing was becoming increasingly unsteady.

"I only found her after it had ended, everyone one I knew was either dead or gone. I found her crushed under the planks from what had once been a roof, she'd been protecting her friends and it had caved in on them. I remember the part where I'd screamed. I was scared, I was angry, I didn't know what I should've been feeling at all." Her stare was so blank, directed straight ahead. Hope could swear he could feel a wind pick up, a breeze that chilled him to the bone. The ground below him went from cold to warm, and it didn't stop from heating up. He knew about this mood of hers, but all he'd been told about it was NEVER let the girl stay like that for too long. He didn't ask why but when a fully trained knight of Eden put extreme emphasis on the word never dear Etro you better take their word for it; he needed to snap her out of this. But only Cid could ever do it, and he wasn't here.

"Solace!" He yelled, feeling like, even being so close, she wouldn't hear it. She didn't look at him; she didn't make any kind of response at all. Her eyes remained as blank as ever, glints as red as flames flickering through, and that was when he almost panicked. He didn't know what was happening but he knew it needed to end.

"Solace!" He repeated and grabbed her hand, it was so hot. She snapped up almost hitting the wall, half lidded eyes opened wide as they could go. For that second her breathing stopped but came back in long harsh breaths. He could feel her start to shiver, as her hand didn't have the previous heat it'd had only seconds before. Her gaze slowly lowered down to him like it was the first time she'd noticed him.

"Hope…" She mumbled, mind slowly returning to reality. "I…um-"

"What was that!" He stopped her before she made more muttered attempts of talking. Clearly she didn't know where to start.

"I…" She looked to the side, avoiding the question. When her gaze returned his confused waiting face, it was too much. She bit her lip, hard enough that her lip turned white under the pressure; she held her hands close to her chest. This was the most common way she showed panic.

Her head shook hastily. "I can't tell you!"

"Why!" He yelled back almost right after, with a hurt look.

A pang of pain was felt in her chest. She didn't want to sound so mean to her friend, but he wouldn't be able to understand.

"Hope…I'm sorry." She stood up abruptly and was going to leave but was quickly stopped by a man's voice calling out behind them.

"Your highness!" She knew she didn't need to stay but she didn't recognise the voice well and was as so curious to who it belonged to. A tall lithe man walked in a steady pace stopping besides the two. His hair a bright blonde; deep blue eyes shown out of his head. Besides the clothes which obviously marked him as one from Palumpolum he looked very much one from Eden. Though that was explained from his traditional Eden hairstyle, proof of him being originally from that city.

"What is it?" Hope stood up quickly and asked the man, who Solace recognised as a guard, well this hospital did have some important citizens being treated here.

"You father wishes to see you." He informed him politely.

"Fine, where is he?" He asked failing to hide his wonder on it. Well he was just a kid after all, it wasn't like he could make his voice void of emotion all the time like his elders could.

"I can take you to him if it's alright." The man replied.

The silver haired teenager nodded to him, "That is fine."

The blonde guard gave Solace a small nod before leaving, acting like this was the first time he'd noticed the knight was there.

Hope didn't miss the way she tensed up under the lanky man's gaze. As soon as they as both turned away and began walking off in another direction, she began running her fingers through her red hair, blonde roots becoming more pronounced each time.

…

The Pulsian duo had continued their stalking into far past midday. The small one was starting to feel the effects of walking for hours on end, the tall one still in fine condition. They kept up a distance but made sure it wasn't too much away. They were out of earshot but not out of sight, they still had to take precautions. The older one was especially intentional on not getting caught.

Around midday their target had stopped for a rest. They gave her credit, sure it had only been walking but she must be very fit to do it for so long. They sat under a tree, hiding in its shadows but keeping her in sight. They took food from their bags and ate it quietly, careful not to bring the slightest amount of attention to themselves.

"Pray tell me what the point of this is?" The small one was yet to put down her argument, whether or not she was aware how useless it was with this woman being the one she's up against.

"Told you already didn't I? The bitch was curious about her, so I want to know what it is." She rubbed the nape of her neck absent-mindedly. "Promise I'll only keep it up for a day or two, I just want to see what this girly's like." Her accented voice laughed.

Her friend didn't make a straight out response; instead letting out a quiet sigh, indeed her argument was useless. She'd keep it up for a year if nothing came up to stop her.

"Could you please stop calling her a bitch? If she finds out about it you'll get in strife again," Her friend reminded her, hoping she'd consider.

"What does it matter if I get her angry with me? Don't have anything she can take away from me but you and she's not allowed to do that." Her friend smirked confidently, making her friend sigh yet again.

"Is this really going to get us anywhere? There is only one reason she can be interested in anyone, shouldn't you have already figured out what it is about her?"

"Sure I have figured that part out already. But that's not all I'm curious about, 'kay? And anyway, she's not ONLY interested in people like me; she was interested in you weren't she? If she hadn't, we wouldn't have met."

Her companion didn't make a reply, instead she decided that she should just give up, her friend was far too stubborn.

…

Lightning was resting her head against the broad trunk of a tree. She hadn't allowed herself to rest for most the day. The soles of her feet felt like they were burning and each joint ached horribly. She wasn't puffed out at all but there was still a limit to what her body could take none the less.

She allowed herself to slide her back against the tree and land on the ground; it was a less than comfortable feeling as she hit the grass but the burning sensation stopped the moment she wasn't putting the weight on her muscles. She let the wind pass over her, revelling in how cool it felt against her skin.

She may have gone too far in one go but there weren't more towns for miles and the isolation would put the search on a standstill for the time being. And she was too stubborn to let that happen. She was surprised at herself for relenting and letting herself rest, even if it was a short amount of time.

Lightning opened up the bag she'd been given the night before and searched through its contents for something suitable to eat. She'd skipped breakfast and she could swear her stomach was on the verge of committing suicide it hurt so much. It was filled with nought but fruits and vegetables and those included the ones she didn't like, but when it came to it if she had nothing left she'd eat such ones anyway, just like she had before she had begun living in Bodhum. Sure it hadn't been the best of places but it had a large amount of good foods, one of the reasons it made a nice place for a holiday.

Lightning picked out a pear, that unlike certain foods in there didn't look like they were about to shrivel up and die. She bit out a chunk, chewing it softly while observing the area. Some trees were closer together while some were further apart making a path, like the one she had been walking for the past couple hours. The leaves were the same pea green as the grass; the bark was different from tree to tree, going from a light brown to being near indistinguishable from black. Patches on the ground were free of the green grass and were now a light coloured dirt. She guessed she could call the area pretty, the forest spread out further than her eyes could see with sunlight dancing all around cutting away dark shadows. She wasn't used to seeing this, Bodhum was a tropical area and where she'd lived before had no life but the pitiful people living there. It was to her a new experience, never had she been able to feel wind that felt so cold or be around such natural smells without the overbearing scent of salt.

She finished up the fruit and chucked the core on the ground, she didn't have any water on her. She could go searching for some later, at the moment she needed her rest. Lying down on the bumpy ground, she closed her eyes and drifted off. She planned for only a quick sleep.

…

Solace had nothing to while her time away with now; the prince had been taken away to talk to his father from what the guard had said. So she needed something new to do, to get her mind off some important matters she'd rather not think about. Her habit of avoidance was seen as rather immature by many, but hell, they weren't her! How were they supposed to understand her reasons? They couldn't, that was that.

She made her way back to her room; maybe sleeping would help if she didn't end up with a nightmare. Because for her nightmares were only ever about the past she longed to forget. Without having to go through a multiple amount of empty rooms she got back much faster than it took her to arrive at the courtyard. When she reached the room she swung the door inwardly, and was greeted with a surprise. Cid was sitting on the bed, he didn't seem to have noticed her right away; his gaze was focused on the scene outside the window. Well she had been quiet upon entering.

"Cid?" She asked the silent man.

He looked over to her, with the same still expression she was so used to see him showing. Knights and royals were not allowed to show emotion, only her and Hope failed when it came to that.

"I saw that outburst of yours. You should've been more careful, especially so from having a royal by your side."

She gulped. He sounded angry; getting him to show his emotions was hard to do. Saying she was frightened was quite an understatement.

"I'm sorry. I was thinking too deeply, I promise I won't do it again." She was near to begging. She didn't like getting anyone angry. She'd been given a phobia of angry people because of how her childhood had been; now she was terrified by them.

"You can promise a million times over but you will always break it. You have no control over your powers; they're too strong for such a small body like yours." His voice was a mix of slight concern and obvious irritation.

"But Cid!" She cut in, knowing where this conversation was going. It hurt her how he completely ignored the pained look in her eyes.

"No buts Solace. Don't leave my sight again; we don't want any more possible outbursts." He stood up from her bed and moved towards the door. Before he did she yelled at him, an anger woken from inside her.

"I'm not a child, stop treating me like one! For the sake of the goddess why are you doing this NOW? You never used to!" She clenched her fists tightly and scowled at him with fiery eyes.

He turned back and looked at her, with an unreadable expression. He took one glimpse at her eyes, how they glowed. For that second his façade fell and his expression was grim, with hints of hurt. For reasons neither had to say, they understood it without having to say it; all too well. He stepped forward and poked her in the forehead.

"I'm just remembering where my priorities are, nothing more nothing less. Stop wishing for dreams, because that's all they are. Dreams." He pivoted and shut the door behind him.

Solace tried to calm down, but she had too much on her mind. Augh! How dare Cid act like that to her? What was she to him? Some child in need of protection? How dare him!

It didn't used to be like this, he just changed all of a sudden. It was so annoying, it was so hard to talk to him now; he didn't make sense anymore.

Nothing made sense anymore.

Solace sighed dejectedly and planted herself on the white bed, hands rubbing her upper arms like she was cold. Right now all she felt like doing was crying, it was getting too much. She wanted to run away, but she knew it wouldn't work. She changed her name, changed herself, but she couldn't escape. Not when the memories of her past still haunted her, the people in her past still lingered with her. Cid had brought her away from that place that day, when everything she had was lost. He stayed and watched as she buried her own mother and any friends she could find. He had once helped her get past all the horrors, he'd saved her in more way than one; but then one day he changed. She never had been given a reason, and she wanted it so god damn badly. She could barely control her powers anymore, back when he didn't act so cold she was fine, but that time was gone.

She sighed loud and lay down, arms outstretched. She blinked back the tears threatening to fall. Apart from everything else one thing bothered her to the extreme, even more so than the cold way Cid acted during the last three years.

"What happened to you?" She spoke aloud, to no one but herself. The thing was, the question was certainly not for the man stuck on her mind. Not even close.

…

Lightning had woken up after half an hour or so. As she'd begun walking again, the pain in her legs had disappeared, but now it was her back that hurt. Luckily it was more easily ignored, and anyway, if this was to continue she'd have to get used to aches as it was unavoidable. She'd found a fresh-water river not so far from where she was, a set of rocks separated a part where it dipped causing the water to tip over the edge like a mini waterfall. She knew it was best to get water from running water rather than still because it would be mostly water rather than being filled with dirt and possible bacteria. The river was slow flowing so getting it from the tiny waterfall would be best. She stepped over to the edge, adjusting her belt so her gunblade was as far away as she could make it. Her hands reached out under the freezing liquid and cupped an amount in her hands. She tilted her head down slightly and drank what she'd managed to get, before repeating it twice over. When she'd had her fill she produced a small bottle from her pocket. It was lucky she had it on her when she'd lost her bag before. Dunking it under she kept it there until water began spilling out the top, signalling it was full.

The woman stood up screwing on the lid, the wind was irksomely cold here thanks to the river and she'd preferably keep her distance if she could. Stepping away from the running water she left the shadowed area into the light of a less crowded area. She'd been walking here before, it made a good path.

For some time she stayed at a steady pace, every now and then taking a look around whenever she thought she had heard something, it could be a fiend; she needed to be careful. Her hand stayed close to her blade, if needed it would serve as the only weapon she had; she was in a refusal to use her powers, she just couldn't chance it. Sure this area was pretty much void of human life but you always had travellers, if they saw a woman magically set a monster on fire it would cause some serious havoc for her. She couldn't let even one person know about what she was. Ever.

For most it was silent excusing her feet against the dirt and long grass, plus the sound of her breathing, but yes silent. So when the sound of a large stick cracking rang against the area it was something to gain her attention. Oh joy, the cliché way to let someone know they're not alone, and certainly someone had just done it. Intense eyes focused on the area behind her, it had echoed far but her hearing was good enough to track the source, and that was the direction it originated from. She concentrated, hard enough that the singing birds could be ignored, and she heard a rushed breath. From the sound of it, the mistake had come from a person, no monster breathed very much like one of them.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" An angered voice cried out with question.

She was given no proper answer, but as she concentrated again she could hear finely a voice, and another deeper one in a hasty sounding conversation.

…

"Oh no, she knows we're here! What are we going to do!" The small Pulsian girl asked her far calmer accomplice.

"Well what the hell do you think we're going to do? If she knows, she knows, didn't I say that before?" She replied sounding like she was about to laugh, but with a very serious tone to her voice.

"Oh dear Etro, and what is she going to think when she realises we've been stalking her for the past five days?" The younger still panicked.

"Hey, I would have done it for a month. Five day's ain't anything."

"But…!"

"Hey no buts, nothing you say is going to stop me. Now I'm going to have one 'lovely' conversation with this young lady, alright?" She pointed in the woman's direction; they could still hear her continued calls throughout conversion with each other.

With a call loud enough to scare the birds out of the trees she stepped forward out into the light.

"Well hello, sunshine!"

…

"Well hello, sunshine!" A thickly accented voice called out to her. Lightning glared, agitated at the woman who revealed herself. She was tan, with cheeky green eyes and a mess of raven hair tied into knotty plaits with fiery dyes running through and beads of the same colour. She just stood there, smiling at her. She wore a white blue edged dress, a fancy garment that'd you expect from a citizen of Eden, but no doubt this was a stolen piece of clothing, as this woman was more than obviously from Pulse. Everything about her screamed it, even more than the painted spear held loosely at her side.

The mystery woman gave her a smug cocky smirk before speaking like she were a close friend, despite the fact of them being perfect strangers, "So how you doing babydoll?"

Hope you enjoyed, reviews shall be much appreciated and shall make Arianna (the name I gave the paranoid voice in my head) shut the hell up because what she says is very painful.

And because I have to I recommend you read Seeker of the skies stories, she's got some good stuff but no one reads her stories.

And also because this will also help make Arianna shut up, I recommend you my precious fans to read my fav story: Wings of regret. It's wonderful but no one reads it and I'm all depressed and it makes Arianna tell me I'm useless to see it with less than one hundred hits.