Why had he done that? No, why did it make me feel that way? I couldn't understand, I couldn't process the agony and sorrow I had felt when I saw him like that. Fran, acting like he had been broken, because of what I had done. My heart, and entire soul, it yelled, screamed at me, 'All your fault! It's all your fault! He is crazy, with anger . . . Because of what you did to him.' I, denied that.

No, it wasn't my fault. Hurting people is what I did, I was Prince the Ripper. I enjoyed watching people in pain. God, but . . . What Fran had done. He really hated me, didn't he? He loathed me enough to try a stunt like that.

Why did I even care? I was sulking here like an idiot, I should be torturing Squalo, or throwing my knives at the wall. I was here instead though, on my floor, feeling empty. I must have been in here for awhile though, because as I lifted my head to peek through my window, I saw early morning light starting to stain the sky.

I picked myself up off my spot on the floor, feeling sick to my stomach as I looked to my bed. Maybe he had been just acting, but Fran really had cracked. My sheets were stained, where his frog hat had been the night before, that spot was covered in blood, not fake blood, his own blood. He'd done all this as an act, but there was truth in his actions. He was breaking, he could handle being abused, but sexually . . . He couldn't handle that stuff yet.

I mentally slapped myself for feeling bad about it again. Fran would snap out of it sooner or later. Sooner . . . Or later . . . God, no doubt he'd be awkward for weeks. With determination, a stalked out of the room, hoping to banish these thoughts by bothering Squalo.

Walking down the hall seemed to take forever when I had passed Fran's room, hearing nothing within. He might have sobbed himself to sleep for all I knew. Without realizing it, my feet had came to a halt, and my curiosity was rising. Once again the feelings I had no name for bubbled up within my stomach. I needed to see his face, I needed to know he was going to be okay, yet I didn't understand why these needs came to me.

My hand reached out for the knob, my mind racing. He could be asleep, he could be taking a shower, he could be staring out the window, he could be fine . . . Or, he might be dead. With that last thought, my hand gripped the handle and threw the door open.

No blood, thank God. No lifeless Fran body on the floor, not just that, no trace of Fran was in there either. It wasn't just empty of people, his bed was made up, his little stuff was gone off the shelves. As I walked to his drawers and opened them, I didn't even find one piece of clothing. Relief was gone again, and panic struck through me.

Where the fuck was Fran? I turned out of his room, marching to where my first planned target was. I'd ask Squalo casually about these matters, and he'd just think I was curious, not at all upset. No, I wasn't upset. As I lied to myself, I came to Squalo's door, and walked right in without knocking.

"Where is Fran?" My teeth were gritted, and I could feel my stomach tighten with more unknown feelings.

If I was the usual me, I would've laughed at how stupid Squalo's face looked. Surprised, confused, and angry, very much angry as he sat on his bed, stopping in mid-polish of his sword.

He stood, now just peeved at my presence. "What right do you-" I didn't let him finish, I threw a knife, and it scraped inches away from his face.

"Fran." I insisted forcefully. So much for casual. I seemed to get the point through though.

Squalo sighed, sitting back down. "Gone. Though, it's possible he'll be back. I watched as he resigned his position in the Varia. He told Xanxus he had other matters of business, and he wasn't sure how long it would take him." Squalo finished, and I was out the door in a heartbeat.

What other business could Fran have? Was he lying just so he could leave me here alone? Why did this bother me? That little brat shouldn't have gotten to me. He was garbage that I used to my own free will. I cared nothing for him. Right? "Belphegor. You always make things more complicated than they should be, you know?" A familiar voice rose from the thin air of the hallway. I looked around for him, that voice that I hadn't heard in what seemed like a million years.

"You hold this "Feeling", yet you can't put a name to it. Though I wouldn't pronounce it as love, it's close. You want Fran. Why not admit it? He intrigues you to no end, the way he puts up with the pain you engage into him. Or that blank expression he has you find "cute"? Don't even try to hide these statements. I can read you like a book, Belphegor." Those striking words, they shook me. I knew it, I already had known, but I hadn't wanted to admit it out loud, or even to myself.

I tried to compose myself, but it wasn't easy. "You always think you've got it all figured out, Mammon. Maybe those things are true, but, I'm also a sadist, I just simply put Fran through pain to see what would brake him at the end." I put on my smile again, feeling the truth to my words ease my troubled mind.

"Oh, so you won then?" I wish I could see him, 'cause now all I wanted to do was hold that damn baby form of his down and stab it until it disappeared. As quickly as it came, my smile was gone, and I was once again confused. "He cried, he broke, he even went as far to bleed himself to get revenge. Ah, but then you cried too, didn't you? So . . . Is there a real winner in this competition of will?" Mammon's voice grew soft, and faint. By the end of it I could hardly hear that last word. I knew he had left me once again.

I didn't know what to think anymore. Was the ghostly voice right? If he was, what was my next move in this never ending charade? My next move . . .

My lips felt dry at the very thought. This idea my mind had just brought up, was it crazy?

. . .

FRAN'S POV++

At the beginning . . . When I had first joined the Varia, I saw those looks most of the members had given me. They knew I wouldn't make it, and I thought I could prove them wrong. Now I was speculating a new plan I had for something that would go on in the near future alone in this forest. I don't remember when exactly I first left the Varia base, but I was sore from walking the distance, and my eyes were burning from how much crying I had done. I guess being immune to things for so long, you end up having a lot of unused tears, because I had only stopped a couple of minutes ago.

While looking to my poorly drawn plan, all I could think of was how Belphegor had shunned me. He was angry at me, like he had the right to be! Yeah, that was fair. I get raped, it's no big deal, I play one dirty joke, and suddenly it's a huge deal. Guess that's how fake princes were. High of themselves, and don't take kindly to others. Only now did I notice I had been caring the frog hat Belphegor had made me wear since day one basically. I looked sadly to it's eyes, despising it's happy looking features with every ounce of my being. With force, I threw it to the ground, and sprinted away from the damn thing, not looking back in fear it'd be following me.

I ran for what seemed like hours, but I knew it had been no more than ten minutes or so, for the skies appearance remained it's dying color. Soon my eyelids were starting to feel incredibly heavy, and my backpack stuffed with my clothes sounded comfortable at this very moment. Resting was the best for now, a good time to let my head clear. I kneeled down next to my bag, putting away the paper and pencil before laying myself on the grass, my head propped up on my backpack. Before I knew it, I was out like a light.

. . . .

Belphegor's POV+++

It was getting pretty late now, and I think I combed through the whole city looking for that stupid frog. I asked half the population of this place and not one person had seen the boy I described to them. Fran couldn't have gotten too far past city limits since it was dark out now, though I guess I don't really know when he had left. My thoughts raced with regret and fear. What if I never saw him again? What if he was gone for good? Loosing Mammon really hurt, but loosing Fran? Somehow it felt ten times worse. I began scanning the forest area now, the sun getting low. Hopefully if Fran was a normal person, he'd be setting up a camp or something and perhaps I'd be able to stumble upon him casually. Then an idea came to me.

"MINK!" I quickly got to my box animal, releasing him. "Find Fran, you know what he smells like and everything, take me to him." I ordered. I think under those bangs ( Which resembled something I couldn't place my finger on at the moment. ) he gave me a look that questioned my sanity. Yeah, I knew he wasn't some search dog, and that he was meant for battling. But desperate times called for desperate measures, right?

A second of hesitation and then my mink scurried off, and I quickly followed behind. That thing was lucky it was small, I was dodging trees and mud trying to keep up. I wondered if I was and idiot for relying on a weapon to find Fran, maybe I should have gone to get and actual search dog, but that would have wasted valuable time, time which Fran could be getting farther away every second.

For a brief moment I lost sight of Mink, taking a glance around the slight opened space around me, I didn't see him. Then his fury head popped out from behind one of the trees. He was stopped on a branch, and he looked from me, to the other side of the tree, tilting his head with curiosity.

I cautiously moved forward to where my Mink sat, my breath sounded heavy, and loud, even to my ears. I peeked over at the side of the tree, and my heart skipped a beat. No, it wasn't Fran, it was his hat . . . The hat I had forced upon him. I couldn't help but stare at the discarded thing, feeling an emptiness form through my chest. He must have hated me, by the looks of the thing, it had been thrown, for dirt covered it, and one of the eyes had been scrapped up from slamming against the pebbles on the ground.

I stepped toward it, feeling lost. The pain I was feeling was like nothing I had felt before. Mammon had been right, I hadn't won, I lost . . . Fran and I, we both lost. Fran more than me though. A twinge of guilt passed over me as I thought of the dirty things I did to him the night before, the twinge turned into a smoldering blanket as I remembered how good it made me feel to penetrate his weaker form, how his cries were like music to me. I was such a sick being, a monster. Even if I had known this fact before, I wasn't proud of it this time, I was ashamed, because I had hurt someone . . . Someone I unwillingly admit, I felt a connection to.

With a sigh, I moved my eyes forward to the trees that lay beyond here, knowing my frog was somewhere in reach now. It fueled me, empowered me to keep searching for him. Even if he denied me, and the Varia, at least I could make peace with myself knowing he was okay . . . If he was okay.

That though echoed in my mind, and again flashbacks from the night before haunted me. No, he wasn't okay, of coarse he wasn't. I raped him, I took something precious from him . . . I sinned with him in more ways then one could count. I screwed up someone's life, and for the first time in my existence, I felt horrible about it.

With a hushed voice, I once again ordered my Mink forward, "Lead me to him, take me to my Frog." I insisted in a voice that I did not recognize in myself. It was filled with sadness, but passion at the same time.

Third Person POV +++

"You care about him, Belphegor. You can't deny how much you want him in your life, and he, he feels the same way, even if he's wounded, in time he'll forgive you, because you need one another." Mammon's voice danced soothingly from his illusion's place beside Belphegor's bed back at the base, it was fading, and fading fast. "In time you'll only see one another, and though, it might not be love, you never now how fate will work . . . Falling for each other, those two idiots . . . It's almost humorous." He smiled to himself before he faded away completely.