A/N: An exciting chapter, I assure you. Please enjoy and thanks for reading.

Chapter 4: Catch Fire

The battle had started almost as soon as she made eye-contact with the one holding the spear. She didn't know where the other went, and frankly didn't care much. She was too focused on getting past this guy's defenses. Her brutish strength was proving ineffective to break his parries and rather graceful dodges. Whoever this guy was, his skills were near master level.

Like the other intruder, her enemy wore black armor that resembled the Imperial Knights. His shoulder lacked the plated armor, but a tough, rubbery material shielded them from attack. His movements were quick and strong. When they finally allowed distance between them, she noticed his similar stance to her own. Only difference was, he periodically spun his crimson spear.

"Who are you, and what do you want!?" She would only demand once. Judith was never a patient person when it came to warnings. If they won't listen the first time, how will a second make a difference? Like she predicted, and secretly hoped, her opponent didn't waver a bit. She prepared herself atop the empty house she was standing on when he charged. His speed shocked her, barely raising her weapon to block his downward strike. "Ahg," She felt a fist connect with her jaw and stumbled backwards.

She was forced on the defensive as the crimson javelin barraged her with thrusts. The few she blocked would only leave her open for a fist or a foot. Judith slid backwards and feigned right, dodging another strike. She swung low and then high, melding it together with a Crescent Moon. She clearly felt her heart drop when he caught her ankle and glared into her eyes.

Myorzo flipped when she was tossed into a random direction, but she could hear a dark voice speak, "Bleeding Moon!" She recovered and watched in shock as the warrior drove his spear upwards. It seemed to disappear until he swiped to the side, a crimson crescent forming above him. A sudden flood of small red spheres shot out of the crescent, blanketing the area around her. It was all she could do to dodge it.

From above her position on the ground, the man with the crimson spear peered through the cloud of smoke and dust. When it finally cleared, he grunted as he spotted Judith getting to her feet. "This game ends," He leaped into the air and dropped towards Judith. However, he didn't expect her to jump towards him and strike.

"Hah," Judy cried as she landed an upwards slash. It struck her opponent's helmet, throwing him back towards the building he leapt off of. She heard a satisfying thud when he hit the side of the building and then to the ground. Knowing better than to claim victory too soon, Judith jumped above him and let loose a Moonbeam. It hit its target, throwing more dust and smoke into the air.

The tough Krityan landed on the ground, panting heavily from the strain of her fighting. She wasn't used to fighting someone like this without help, and it was taxing on her body. "At least stay down for awhile." Much to her displeasure, she saw a black blur shoot out of the cloud of dust and into the air.

"Lunarbeam!" The black-clad warrior reeled back and let his javelin fly. The crimson spear began to glow a hot orange and accelerated to a blinding speed. Judith ducked out of the way, hissing at the feel of it scraping her arm. Without missing a beat, her enemy descended and took hold of his now implanted javelin. He spun around the javelin and kicked Judith into a pile of lifeless blastia.

The impact winded her, certain she would feel a few new bruises tomorrow. Judy glared at her opponent and tried to get up, but felt something hold her back. Her hot pink eyes widened when she saw thick blastia wires had entangled themselves around her arms, pinning her down. A tap brought her attention forward, and her heart stopped. Before her brain properly processed her situation, everything went black.

With a hidden expression, the black-armored lancer looked down at an unconscious Judith. He cracked his neck and drove his javelin in the pavement beside him. Slowly, he untangled Judith's arms and picked her up gingerly. He waked over to the empty house and set her down just in front of the door. He raised his vision and caught the sight of frightened Krityan eyes watching him from within the house. It seems it wasn't as empty as he assumed. "Watch over her until she wakes up."

The door opened to reveal one of the citizens of Myorzo. It was a young Krityan woman. She nodded cautiously and knelt beside Judith. "W-Who are you?"

The warrior ignored the question and walked over to Brionac. He tossed it up and down, testing its weight. With a shrug, he quickly turned and threw Brionac into the side of a random building. Ironically, the door of said building opened. It was the one with the red sword. They made eye contact, then he looked to Brionac, then back to the one who threw it. Picking up his red javelin, he shrugged. "Did you get it?"

To answer his question, the sword wielder presented an old, thick book. With a nod, both men exited Myorzo. They were sure to avoid Ba'ul.

"GEEZ!" A frustrated groan left the lips of a disgruntled young man, "I've been looking around this place all day!" He motioned towards the streets of Aspio and the researchers that filled them. "Where the heck is Mordio's place!?" He glared into space and took a bite of his second apple. Then, as if something finally clicked, he spotted a hut located in the darkest section of town.

His mouth dropped open, allowing his bite of apple to fall to the ground. "Well I feel stupid." He looked around to be sure nobody noticed and started for the hut.

(Believe it or not, this happened to me when I first played Tales of Vesperia. Rita's house was hard to find!}

Casually, he approached the hut and went to knock on the door. When his knuckles touched the door, he immediately froze. He took a moment to examine his surroundings, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rising. His eyes dropped to the door and his eyes sharpened. He saw slight scrapes on the wood, and he could clearly feel a presence. Carefully, he opened the door... and ducked.

A claw swiped just over his head, followed by a dark figure. It tackled him off the small stairs and onto the cold ground. He gripped whatever attacked him and swiped with his right, punching it with his fist and slamming his elbow into its jaw. He rolled to his feet when the attacker flew off of him and finally got a good look at it.

The attacker was a thin-shaped man with very pale skin. He was wearing a tight suit, belts wrapped around his arms and legs. A black tattoo covered his exposed chest and even reached his face. The rest of his head was covered by a black mask, the face appearing like a skull. The dark attacker recovered from the strikes and flexed his fingers, each bearing a long blade, like claws. Without a word, he surged forward, arms flailing behind him like a rag-doll.

"Che," The young man snorted and feigned left, dodging a swipe for his head. Swiftly, he jabbed with his right and went for the gut with his left. Both hits landed, throwing his enemy off balance. Ducking low, he brought his foot around and swept the attacker's feet out from under him. Smoothly, he went into a hand-stand and brought his foot down on the attacker's head, hard.

He got to his feet once more and looked down at his fallen apple. "Oh man, I still wanted that." A thud forced his attention back to the hut. His eyes widened when realization hit him. There's more than one in the hut. "Mordio better be alive." He growled and cracked his knuckles, this might take awhile. He kicked open the door and walked inside.

...

BAM

...

THUD

...

...

"Devil's Glory!"

...

THUD BAM

...

...

CRASH THUD

"What the – who keeps all this junk everywhere!?"

BAM BAM CRASH

"Searing Barrage!" BAM THUD THUD

...

"Grrr," Green eyes opened slowly at the chaotic sounds filling her usually quiet home. Rita ran her hand through her messy hair and groaned at the migraine the noise of giving her. She felt around in the dim light and growled again. She was in the middle of a pile of books again, and like before, her house was filled with noise. Rita sat up from her buried position and poked her out of the pile of books she was in.

To say she was highly livid at what she saw would be an understatement. With blurry eyes, she watched some weird guy with cerulean eyes fight off three other weird guys with claws for hands. She decided to watch for a bit and allow her head to clear. After a few moments, she got to her feet and focused her mind. "Thieves," She slowly started, she moved her body ever so slightly to an unheard rhythm and focused, "BEGONE!"

"The heck!?" A barrage of fireballs shot towards the unsuspecting foursome, knocking out three. The strange young man was the only one able to block the attack, but not without lighting a few strands of hair on fire. He laughed weakly and pinched the lit hairs, putting them out.

Rita glared at him until he dropped backwards to the ground. She dusted off her hands and put them on her hips triumphantly, "That felt good and all, but why do people always break into my house?" She scowled and looked around. The place was a mess, obviously in the middle of being ran-sacked. Her gaze shifted back to the four people on her floor, either unconscious or... well dead. She honestly didn't care either way.

"Hmm," Her eyebrow rose in curiosity when she noticed that none of them had any stolen items on their person. On top of that, the one guy was fighting off the other three. Something about this robbery didn't seem right. Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by the cling and clang of heavy armor. With a knowing frown, she saw a group of five Imperial Knights approach her humble home. "You're LATE!" She spat.

The superior officer flinched, "W-We heard a commotion and came to investigate. Are you alright Miss Mordio?"

Rita didn't need to see his face to tell he was nervous. With a catty smirk, she began sweetly, "Well as you can see," Her expression soured again, "there are four people on my floor!" She folded her arms and tapped her foot. Moments ticked by, and with it Rita's temper began to flare, "CLEAN IT UP!"

All five knights jumped and began picking up the suspicious intruders. Finally, the superior came to the lone person who fought the strange clawed men. Rita watched as the knight went to pick him up. "Hold on," She spoke suddenly, "leave him here."

"Uhh... ma'am?" The knight gave her a strange look from within his helmet.

Rita turned away, nose pointed upwards proudly, "I said leave him, he's with me."

"Well... do you want me to find a healer for him?"

"No," Rita ran her hand through her hair, "why do you ask?"

"Uhh... he's kind of... bleeding ma'am."

Rita instinctively snatched the young man from the knight and threw him to the far end of the room. "No, keep his blood off of my books!"

The knight watched in shock as Rita began inspecting the books nearest the young man's body, checking for stains. "Right, I'll just inform a healer then." He sighed and turned around, "Let's get these men to the local prison. Uhm, how many are alive?"

"Three of the four, we found another just outside." Another knight answered.

Rita didn't notice when the knights exited and ignored their request for her to file a statement about the incident. After she had checked her books, she finally looked at the unconscious man. "Now Rita, why did you go and do that?" She growled when she heard her conscience make a comeback, exploiting Estelle's voice again. "Fine, fine, I'll help him." There was just one problem. Rita had no medical experience to speak of.

Zaphias, the Imperial Capital, was beginning to regain its life. People were in the streets, going about their daily lives and conversing with one another. As usual, the nobles kept to the Upper Quarter, only going to the Middle Quarter to do some shopping. However, the Lower Quarter was the most lively part of the Imperial Capital. Nobody realized this more then Estelle.

She always enjoyed being around the people Yuri was familiar with. Despite his shady appearance, Yuri was a good judge of character, thus he knew some of the kindest people Estelle has ever met. She giggled when a small child energetically began sword-fighting with his friend. Their dramatic words and motions were exactly as she pictured Yuri and Flynn as children. Much like Lune, she enjoyed reading stories to the children, thus resulting in such flamboyant dramatizations of her made up tales.

"Man, if someone had told me you could fire up a bunch of kids like this, I would've called them crazy." Yuri smiled over at her as he lounged in one of the shabby benches of the lower quarter.

Estelle returned his smile with an apologetic one. "Sorry Yuri, you must be bored just sitting here with a bunch of children."

Yuri shrugged, "Eh, it's not that bad. Not my idea of fun, but not bad." His smirk faltered when he saw the disheartened look on Estelle's face. "Hey, hey, why the long face?"

"Sorry, I just don't really know what to do for fun outside the castle." Estelle replaced her sad look with an awkward laugh. It was sad, but true. Simply interacting with people seemed fun for her, but she was sure Yuri was too used to being out and about. She gasped when Yuri took her hand and tugged her up, already heading towards the Middle Quarter. "Yuri?"

Lowell turned around and grinned down at her, "Well then your highness," His sarcasm made her smile again, "I'll have to show you how to have fun, Yuri Lowell style." He grinned proudly, but only earned a skeptical look from Estelle.

"Yuri, your version of fun will probably get us into trouble." She suspiciously stared at Yuri, only to meet his dark eyes. She felt her face grow warm, finding herself trapped by his strong gaze.

Lowell chuckled and gently pulled her along, "I promise Estelle, nothing that will break the law." He watched her carefully, silently thanking her judgement for changing out of her usual white clothes. She was wearing the clothes she got from that play in Nam Combana. He had to admit, she looked good with shorter hair. Immediately kicking the idea aside, Yuri continued to lead Estelle towards the Middle Quarter. It was time to show Estelle the finer locations of Zaphias.

By the end of the day, Yuri and Estelle found themselves just outside of Zaphias, on a hill that overlooked the beautiful capital. Yuri himself was on his back, laughing at their final antic before leaving town for a few moments of peace and quiet. As promised, he took Estelle around the Middle and Lower Quarters, showing her his favorite places to spend the day. Unfortunately, he had a run in with Tweedle A and Tweedle B. What were their real names again?

At any rate, after a one-sided exchange of clever insults, the two knights had given chase to Yuri, and consequently, Estelle. Yuri will give them this, they managed to chase them through all the Lower Quarter, and even proved that they've learned about some of Yuri's shortcuts.

"So Estelle," Yuri sat up and looked beside him, "have fun?" He couldn't help but laugh at the look she gave him. It was a cross between a pout and a scolding stare. It was a very... Estelle look. Even when trying to be serious, she still appeared harmless.

The pink-haired princess continued to stare at Yuri, slightly upset that he had angered those two knights. 'What were their names again?' Estelle felt her thoughts straying to try and remember but she soon focused again. "Yuri, you promised not to get in trouble." Her upset expression deepened when she heard him laugh. In her frustration, she rolled over on top of him, her hands on either side of his head, and glared down, "I'm serious."

When she registered what she was doing, Estelle froze. Her emerald eyes widened in shock and she drank in the sight below her. Yuri was currently smiling, but it was different from his usual smirks and mocking grins. This was... content, perhaps even happy. She has never seen Yuri smile like this, save for when he beat Flynn in a duel for the first time.

"Estelle?"

She yelped and removed herself from over him. Instinctively, she turned away to hide the redness on her face. "I-I'm still upset with you." She looked away and tried to calm the rapid beating of her heart. She felt a finger poke her head gently, yet firmly enough to move her head to the side.

"But you did have fun, didn't you." His tone was that of someone stating a fact.

Estelle looked down at her clasped hands, "Maybe a little."

Satisfied with the answer, Yuri positioned himself against the large tree beside them. He laid against the bark and placed a hand behind his head. With a sigh of content, he looked out towards Zaphias. This was his new spot, even Repede marked it for the monsters to know.

"This is such a beautiful view." Estelle sat down beside him and marveled at the sight. She often imagined Zaphias to be this beautiful, but she never really found just the right spot to see it from. Sure, she had seen it from afar, even from above while they rode on Ba'ul, but never like this. The sun was beginning to set, casting a breathtaking glow over the Imperial Capital. Estelle was ignorant to the fact, but Yuri was staring at her as she marveled the sight of Zaphias.

Lowell couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her as the slight breeze passed by. Now Yuri isn't one for sentimental jargon, he's more a blunt man with subtle tendencies towards... subtlety. However, when he looked at Estelle right now, words escaped him. Sure, a few phrases passed through his head, but none seemed to place what he was feeling. 'Get a grip Yuri,' His eyes averted to the sky, 'you have other things to think about.' He didn't know it, but his face had grown grim as he focused on another train of thought.

Estelle had taken a moment to glance at Yuri, and saw his grim expression. Her memory went to when he spoke with Flynn, and she felt the urge to ask. "Yuri, what did you talk with Flynn about?"

Honestly, Yuri was more surprised that she hadn't asked the question already. "Just a few details of what happened to him, who did it, why, stuff like that." He closed his eyes and began to relax. Lately, monsters seemed to avoid populated areas, and knights were on constant patrol, so there was little to worry about. However, knowing Estelle is a magnet for trouble, he kept himself somewhat alert.

"Is that all you talked about?" She highly doubted he was telling her the whole truth.

Yuri shrugged, "If there was anything else, I didn't catch it." He opened an eye when he didn't get a response. He immediately stiffened when he got an eyeful of Estelle's face. When did she get that close?

Estelle's mouth was forming a solid frown, "Yuri," She sounded frustrated with his dodging. She searched his eyes for a few more seconds before huffing. She turned away and went back to watching Zaphias. 'This is nothing like those novels I read, I should be able to see if he's lying through his eyes.' Unfortunately, she hadn't figured Yuri to be an emotional fortress. She wasn't going to crack that egg so easily.

"Just drop it Estelle, it's nothing worth worrying about." Yuri stood up and brushed off his clothes. "We should start back, no doubt the knights are having a fit looking for you." He turned and offered Estelle his hand.

She didn't hesitate to take it. The trip back was short and silent. When they neared the entrance to the Lower Quarter, Estelle stopped Yuri by his sleeve. "I'm going too you know." She smiled at Yuri's confused look, "When you leave to find the one who did this to Flynn. I'm coming with you."

Yuri was slightly shocked by her statement, but soon smirked. "Can't slip anything past you can I." She only smiled back. "Alright, we leave tomorrow so get your things together. Will Repede and I need to sneak you out like last time?"

Estelle was about to say no, but thought about it a little. "Maybe for old time's sake?"

Yuri nodded and offered her his hand once more. "Well then Estelle, let's go find the culprit to this whole mess." Her smaller hand filled his and they shook hands.

Far from Zaphias, at the krene near Nordipolica, a familiar man with long white hair looked down into the see of aer beneath him. His usually calm eyes were wide with awe and disbelief. "This can't be possible." He turned and started out, he needed to find those young people who stood against him. Only they can help him defeat this threat.

A/N: Well, a few fights and some nice YurixEstelle at the end. For those wondering, Karol and Raven enter the story next chapter. Anyway, thank you all for the kid words and please remember to review!