Me: I'm back!

Roia: Zed's not...

Me: 0_0 would u wait? (sigh) Never should have told you that...

Roia: Never would have agreed though.

Me: Yeah yeah yeah, just do it.

Roia: Yukimo Soto doesn't own KI-BA or any of it's characters.

Me: ON WITH THE STORY!

Roia sat on the hill rubbing her arm. Yesterday she had to quit the Joust because the shard cut right through her bone and muscle and it was hurting like crazy. But she wasn't bugged by the pain today. In fact, she barely felt anything at all. She was lost in her thoughts, staring at her new spirit's shard.

"How long has this shard been inside me?" Roia wondered

"Ever since you were born..."

Roia's head snapped up "Who's there?" Roia exclaimed. She looked around but she was alone. It was the angelic voice she heard in the field.

"Me..."

This was scaring Roia "Great, the voice I'm hearing has an attitude..."Roia thought to herself "I'm going crazy".

"You're not crazy Roia..."

Roia was very scared "Okay, just who are you? If I'm not crazy, show yourself!"Roia exclaimed in her head.

"I'm up in the tree."

Roia looked up and saw her. The same spirit that was on the field was sitting on a branch in the tree. Roia gasped and backed away when she landed next to her. Roia gulped "This is impossible!"Roia exclaimed in her head. The angelic spirit shook her head.

"I won't hurt you. I'm your spirit and a spirit's purpose it to protect their caster."

Roia relaxed. She smiled sideways. "Do you have a name?"Roia asked.

"Amarella."

"Can all spirits talk?" Roia asked

"Yes. But only special casters can talk to spirits, even if spirit shows herself or himself or itself in this form."

"What about Afkareru?"Roia asked.

She tilted her head side to side.

"Afkareru is strong, but not strong enough for her to show herself to you like this. There is a certain area here where we can actually interact with you. It might still be here."

Roia stood up "Can you remember where?"Roia asked

Amarella nodded. The ghostly figure walked and Roia followed her through town. Eventually they ended up in one of Templar's public gardens. This one had been abandoned and weeds and pretty wild flowers grew on the hedges. The garden was off of the path and was surrounded by a forest, but it was so huge Roia didn't understand how nobody noticed it. Amarella led her through the tall hedges. Turning every now and then, Amarella suddenly paused and turned to face Roia.

"Once I show you this place, it's a secret. This maze and the forest were designed to keep humans away. However, normal spirits could also get lost here trying to find it and it's impossible to see it from the sky. Don't worry about memorizing the path. Once I show you the place, it'll be easy to come back."

She started to walk again and eventually they hit a dead end. It was a stone wall covered in vines. Placing her transparent hand on the wall, she closed her eyes and her ribbons began to draw a symbol on the wall. The ribbons withdrew and Amarella smiled "Place your hand on that jewel. Every time you come here, push it and you will be able to visit this place again."

Roia moved the vines out of the way and saw the small jewel on the wall. It was shaped a bit oddly to Roia; a sphere floating above a winged pedestal that was floating above a sideways crescent. Roia remembered that Amarella's shard had the same symbol on it. Roia gulped at hesitantly pressed her palm against the smooth crystal. Almost instantly, Roia felt the crystal warm up against her palm. Before she could pull away, she fell through the wall. She landed on her knees in front of what must have been the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. A large oval shaped field was rimmed with flowers and herbs that bloomed in front of a lush, green forest. A lake edged a side of the empty grass field and glittered in the afternoon sun. Standing up slowly, Roia looked around in amazement. She looked behind her as Amarella passed through the wall and placed her hands on her hips. She looked around and smiled.

"Just as I remember it."She said softly. Roia noticed that this time she could hear Amarella with her ears and not her mind "How can anyone not notice this?" Roia said out loud.

"I'll explain it to you later."She turned her head to the lake."AFKARERU!" Amarella shouted out.

The lake started to bubble and from the middle, a head popped out and then a torso. The figure waved and disappeared underwater. The figure popped its head out when it reached the shore. I was Afkareru.

"Amarella! What happened to you? Where have you been? She shook her head. Actually, forget about it. It's just been so long!" Afkareru exclaimed.

"Perhaps too long..."Amarella said sadly.

Roia was confused "What do you mean 'too long'?"

"You didn't tell her yet did you?" Afkareru asked. Amarella shook her head and flew to the nearest tree's branch. Afkareru watched sadly. "What's up with her?"Roia asked

"You remember Amil Gaoul right?" Afkareru asked.

Roia nodded.

"Well, she and he knew each other ever since who knows when and she really cares about him; think of her as you and Zed as Amil Gaoul." Afkareru said.

Roia blushed. She did care about Zed; but that's all she would admit to herself. "Why?"Roia asked. Amarella flew down from the tree in a flurry of feathers "I knew him a long time ago. But we were separated when humans first discovered our shards. There are three main dimensions on this world. The first is your dimension, humans. Spirits are only able to show themselves when called upon so they have no choice but to battle the opponent of whomever summoned them. However, Amil Gaoul is the only one with power great enough that he is the only exception to this rule. I am not strong enough to resist being summoned but I am strong enough to resist fighting an opponent that I don't like. The second dimension is the one we are in now. A cross between the third and the first, this dimension can only be entered with the permission of a spirit. The last dimension is the one you call a spirit shard. It has a miniature world inside of it the complements the spirit's background. That's why we return to our shards when we are defeated; it heals us. The area we're in now is a cross between your dimension and the background of me and Afkareru's spirit shards. If there was another spirit here, this garden would look different. Afkareru and I are the only spirits who are in this place right now because we're your spirits. If you came with another caster, you would be able to see their spirits as well." She took a breath.

"In the human dimension, some spirits can walk around within a certain distance of their shard. But we will look like what you would call ghosts to the few humans that could see us. That's how Amil Gaoul and I knew each other. But two humans took our shard and separated. I've been locked away for a while and I've never seen Amil Gaoul ever since."

Roia nodded "But why are you telling me this?" Amarella locked eyes with Roia."What is it that you want?"She asked. This caught Roia off guard and she looked away. "Not sure? Think about it. What was the one thing that you hated about yourself but reluctantly accepted? You just admitted it in that battle."She said.

Roia stiffened "I hate that I'm always the damsel in distress and that the people closest to me get hurt trying to save me. I want to help others. Not put them in danger." Roia said. She thought about her father figure Zico and how he died because of her. A tear escaped her face. Before she could move, Amarella wiped it away "This is where I come in. I will make a deal with you. I'll teach you how to fight and heal. In return, you use me to make sure no one has to put themselves in danger just for our sake." She said. Roia nodded "Okay, show me what you can do."Amarella held out her hand and her glaive appeared. Roia took a step backwards and reluctantly drew her Sais, "You do realize that this is really unfair with you being a spirit right? I-I don't st-stand a chance!" Roia stuttered. Amarella chuckled "Don't worry. This is a little technique I use when training. I'll hold back until I reach your level of fighting and then as you get stronger, I'll fight harder. If you can keep up, you'll be getting stronger in time."

Roia bit her lip "Sounds fair." She took a position and attacked. Amarella deflected. Over and over for the rest of the day, Roia and Amarella fought against each other. When Roia reached the point where her performance faltered, Amarella called it a day and Roia went home. Before she lay down on her bed, she opened the drawer and gently lifted out two hawk feathers. She saw Noah cut them from Zed's pendant and recognized them when she found them after Zed disappeared. They were battered and torn but they still reminded Roia of Zed. As she combed her hair, she found one of Amarella's feathers. She held it and one of the hawk's feathers in her hands. Zed's feathers were blackened at the tip and grey while Amarella's feather was a glimmering silver edged in a multicolored aura. "Zed's feather is and battered but Amarella's feather being white being surrounded by all these colors is like life. All those colors can mean a different path. Maybe Amarella is a sign. Zed's gone and there is nothing I can do about it. I should just forget about him. He will never come back. Why should he?" Roia said to herself "I was nothing to him anyways." She put the hawk feathers back in the drawer, placed Amarella's feather on top and laid down. A few tears left her eyes but she didn't allow anymore.

Me: Yep.

Roia:...

Amarella: Why am I here again?

Me: O_O u weren't supposed to be here...ANYWAY:

Next Chapter - The Shadows

Every story need some sort of antagonist.