Dreylen: Welcome to the final chapter of To Have Loved and Lost! Yes, that's right, I'm breaking this story into segments.

Kittypoptart: Lynnn~ Come on, we need to work on costumes~

Dreylen: Jeez...I'll be there in a sec! Go bug your brother for a little bit.

Kittypoptart: ...but he's your boyfriend...

Dreylen: ...Tell you what. You do my disclaimer for me, and I'll not only be there faster, but I'll draw up another costume for you.

Kittypoptart: Kay! Dreylen doesn't own any of the Final Fantasy games. She only owns Kole and Anastasia. Oh, and Acacia, Anastasia's servant girl.

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Chapter 7: Removing the Mask

Drake stared at the young woman who stopped just by Kuja's side. He wasn't aware that he had stopped breathing until his lungs reminded him he needed oxygen to survive. He felt as if all the rain that had soaked into him since he entered Burmecia had just turned to ice in his veins.

"Ana...stasia...?"

The brunette smiled, but it didn't hold the same kindness and beauty that Drake had gotten accustomed to seeing. He saw her not as a woman that looked exactly like Cass anymore. He saw her as she truly was.

"I must admit, I wasn't expecting to see you here. Had I known you'd take it into your head to meddle, I would have prevented you from coming." Another chill ran down Drake's spine.

Tik. The arrow that Drake had nocked to his bow fell to the ground.

Anastasia was with Kuja. The woman that looked so much like his Cassandra was working with the madman responsible for all the chaos they would be going through. He was her 'benefactor', the one she had spoken of so fondly. She actually liked Kuja.

"...Why? Why are you doing this?!" Drake's hands were shaking slightly as he stared dejectedly at the woman before him. She tilted her head to the side and lifted an eyebrow, an obviously faked expression of confusion on her face.

"Why? Simple. I am my master's pawn. I will strike as he orders me to, move as he commands." Drake tilted his head down, his hair quickly plastering itself to his face despite the cloth he had wrapped around his head.

"Zidane." The thief turned his head to show he was listening. "I can't fight her." The archer's voice was full of pain. His bow was held in a slackened grip, but didn't fall to the ground as the man stood unguarded.

The general and queen of Alexandria stared bemused at the archer, while the silver-haired man standing at the red mage's side merely smirked in triumph. The red mage in question had a disappointed look in her eyes, understanding the gesture the archer was making with his actions.

"And here I was thinking that you'd be strong enough to overcome any hurdle in your way. How pathetic." Anastasia lifted her right hand sword and swung it for a moment, magic swirling visibly about her form in multi-colored orbs. "At the very least, allow me to end your meaningless existence." She started forwards again, her dark brown boots splashing softly in the shallow puddles.

Drake lifted his head at that, and stared at the woman walking towards him. His eyes were full of pain and emotion. Fear, sadness, anger, disappointment, and grief were foremost. The eyes that he stared into were devoid of emotion. He could see past her mask, now that he knew what she was truly like.

A pair of backs appeared between the archer and the red mage, shielding him as they readied a spear and a pair of daggers respectively. A small hand grasped Drake's empty one, and he looked down at the black mage that looked up to him.

"We won't let you. He may have too kind a heart to lift a hand to a manipulative little bitch like you, but we have no such qualms." Anastasia scoffed and shook her head to make her wet hair flick about.

"Protecting the weak? How foolish. It is the way of the world that the weak die and the strong continue to live. To allow one who cannot fight someone they know to live is to go against the flow of nature." The magic she had summoned still swirled around her. "It goes against my honor. Now, perish."

A Thundara spell smashed into Drake from above, making him yell in pain and fall to his knees. His bow skittered away from his grip as he planted his hands on the ground, twitching slightly in pain. A coppery taste made him spit, and he saw blood on the ground before him.

"Drake!" He had been the only one hit? He coughed and started to get up when he heard metal clashing in front of him. It took more energy than he wanted just to lift his head and look.

Anastasia was strong, no doubt. Zidane was having to use both daggers just to barely hold off one of her swords. Freya looked to be hard-pressed as well. However, they threw her off by pushing hard at the same time, and the archer started to stagger to his feet. Orbs of magic were starting to swirl around Anastasia again as she laughed slightly, spinning away from the two warriors gracefully.

"Now, you two are as strong as I would want! Come, dance with me. Dance with your death!" Drake's eye twitched slightly. Anastasia was enjoying this. Unholy glee lit her eyes as she taunted his two friends.

"Blizzara!" Drake coughed again as Vivi launched his spell. That Thundara had made him bite the inside of his cheek, and now that the vestiges of the electrical attack was seeping from his body into the ground, he could feel more of the pain. "What?!"

Vivi's yelp was the only warning that Drake got before the icy spell hit him. The archer screamed in pain as the ice formed around him, freezing the water that was covering him. The spikes that created the signature look of the spell shattered, and made the rest do the same, cutting into Drake's skin.

"Drake!!" The archer pushed himself back up from where he had fallen, shaking his head to Zidane's call. He opened his mouth to speak, only to cough up more blood. "Drake, hang on!" The archer spat out a clod of blood as a pair of hands helped him to sit.

"Keep fighting, Zidane! I'll help him." Drake forced his eyes open as he heard Vivi's voice near him. That he was forced to accept help from the little mage told him just how bad off he was.

A small bottle was held to Drake's lips, and the archer swallowed it carefully, wincing as he felt it sting the cut inside of his mouth. Immediately, his wounds started to heal. He recognized it to be a Hi-potion by taste, and coughed slightly again.

"She's got...protective spells engraved into her bracelets," the archer croaked, his voice already damaged by how hard he'd been coughing. "Shell...Protect...and Reflect. Sh' feeds mana into 'em...to activate the...spell." Drake had to pause as he spoke to cough slightly.

Drake wiped the back of his hand over his mouth as Vivi relayed the information to Zidane and Freya. Zidane's reaction was to immediately curse, Drake knew, but the thief must have held back because of Vivi's presence.

"We could have known that a bit sooner. But thanks!" Drake merely nodded, feeling absolutely useless. Despite the fact that he was watching the woman he had started to feel affection for beating his friends into submission, he still could not bring himself to reach for his bow to attack her.

"Ngh..." Drake flinched as he felt pain flare through him, and then noticed a couple of transparent orbs flying towards Anastasia from him. Had she just used...? The woman gestured slightly as she absorbed the orbs, bowing mockingly towards him. "She just used Drain on me, right, Vivi?" The black mage glanced at the archer with a worried look in his eyes.

"Yeah...You're still alright, right?" Drake nodded, and decided that it was time for him to try to stand again. Quina lay on its back a few yards away, knocked out already. Anastasia had found it to be rather annoying. Drake wouldn't have been surprised to find out that she was taking out her aggression towards Quinn on poor Quina. From what he'd seen, she hadn't liked the Qu much at all.

"Come now, you're starting to bore me. Do you have no other tricks?" Drake gritted his teeth as he heard Anastasia's taunting. Something inside of his emotions snapped, and he stepped forwards, pulling off the yellow scarf he'd had on his head.

Vivi looked up at the archer as he stepped forwards, peeling off his archer's sleeve and dropping his quivers to the ground. The black mage sent the serious young man a concerned look, until he saw how he dodged Anastasia's sword strike.

"Sorry. I've decided I can't sit off to the side anymore." A hard kick towards the red mage slammed into a Protect barrier, and she sent him a slight smirk. Drake was glaring now, though.

"So you aren't all light and forgiveness. Perhaps you aren't as weak as I had thought?" Anastasia swiped at Drake with both swords, ignoring Zidane and Freya for the time being. The archer either dodged them all, or slapped them away with an open hand. "You aren't used to fighting barehanded, though, I can tell. Are you perhaps simply desperate?" Drake frowned to the red mage's taunting, refusing to react in the way she wanted him to.

The archer was hoping that Zidane or Freya would understand what he was doing, and somehow take advantage of Anastasia's distraction. They hadn't looked too worn out, thankfully. He noticed them try to attack her, but always her Protect spell blocked them. She wasn't even getting touched. And since she was merely activating the spell for seconds at a time, she wasn't even losing much mana anymore. The wounds that Drake had sustained because of the Blizzara that had bounced off of her Reflect were opening, though, weakening him.

"I tire of this." Magic swirled around Anastasia again, and she broke away from the fighters to hold her swords crossed in front of her, her eyes closing for a brief moment. "Sky's wrath and winter storm, meld before me, gain new form!" The light that had been glowing on the tips of Anastasia's swords became one as she uncrossed them, floating in front of the triumphantly smirking red mage.

The orb of light was sparking slightly as it froze the water falling around it. What had she just done? The single orb of light broke into two as the red mage swung her right sword through it, and then into four as the left did the same. Zidane, Freya, and Drake all exchanged confused looks as the red mage held her swords out to the sides. Vivi was stupefied, staring at the small orbs with wonder.

"Now, DIE!" Drake yelped as the orbs flew towards him and his friends as Anastasia swung her swords to point towards them, a malevolent grin on her face. One of the orbs connected with his chest, and he screamed in pain, falling to the ground on his side.

His lungs felt like they were freezing inside of him! He couldn't control his movements, so he wasn't able to do anything about the ice that crept up along his arms and chest before shattering, opening even more wounds. His blood was pounding so loud in his ears that he was unable to hear if the others were suffering the same way or not, but the twitching finally started to subside after a few moments, leaving him with barely enough will to stay conscious.

"Ah, and here I was wishing that I could truly test myself." Drake felt his anger start to build as he heard Anastasia's words. She sounded like a person that had just realized that they were inconvenienced, not like she had just tried to kill them all.

"You see, general, they were pests, unworthy to even stain your blade." The sound of metal made Drake realize that Anastasia was sheathing her swords. The others were down for the count as well, it seemed.

"Indeed. Come, Beatrix. We must prepare to attack Cleyra." Boots moving against wet stone marked the woman general turning to salute her fat queen.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The rustling of fabric and clear bootsteps announced that the two Alexandrians had moved away. Softer bootsteps made Drake grit his teeth slightly and look up, blinking at the rain that fell into his eyes.

"Now, what do we have here...? Another filthy rat, and..." Drake noticed that Kuja sounded thoughtful as he looked over the fallen fighters, and fought against the darkness that threatened to consume his mind. "Ah, this one's still alive. My dear, your conquest seems to be more resilient than you had thought."

A sharp kick to Drake's back made the archer close his eyes in pain. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain. Not anymore. A twisted woman like her deserved none of the affection that he could have given her. Not when she looked to a madman for such.

"Indeed. A pity that he is weak, though. He had seemed like he would be so fun, too." Fingers brushed Drake's arm, tracing along his deltoid muscle until they reached the green ribbon that was tied there. "This should do as a souvenir." Those soft fingers plucked at the knot that had kept the fabric there, and the strip was removed from his skin.

"Keeping something of his? My dear, whatever are you thinking?" Drake gritted his teeth as he heard the slight teasing tone Kuja was taking. The bastard's tenor voice was grating on his nerves, and the eerie feeling of panic that had struck Drake earlier returned with the adrenaline in his system fading.

"That perhaps, since he has survived a spell mix, he shall get stronger and return to me. Perhaps then he will be worthy." Drake wanted to reach for his belt knife, for any weapon, just to get them away from him. He needed to get to the others, to make sure that they were alive.

Bootsteps announced that one of them was wandering away, as wingbeats sounded. The silver dragon was arriving. Drake forced his eyes open, fighting against gravity, it seemed, and saw Kuja walking towards Zidane. He distantly heard the silver-haired man comment that the thief could become a nuisance for him before his eyelids forced themselves closed again, darkness spreading through his mind.

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Kuja turned from the group of fallen warriors and started towards his beloved apprentice, who was tying the scrap of low-grade fabric to her upper right arm, as the boy she'd taken it from had. It disappeared under the sheer fabric that served as her sleeves, hiding the color from view and keeping it from clashing with the rest of the colors she wore.

The magician laughed slightly and started to climb up onto the Silver Dragon, holding a hand out to help the young woman he had raised to do the same. He was truly pleased with her skills, especially in the art that he himself had created: mixing spells. She was unable to cast high level spells yet, but her mastery of the art more than made up for the lack of variety.

"Come, my dear one. To Treno." Anastasia smiled at her benefactor and nodded, seating herself gently on the Silver Dragon's back. She looked towards the warriors as they lifted off, in time to see the rat woman lift her hand as if to stop them.

They traveled in silence for a time, Anastasia spending most of it meditating, sorting through the magics she had learned and putting them back into order after her spell mix had mixed them up slightly.

"My dear...what you said to those warriors was not entirely true." The red mage turned her head to look towards her silver-haired master, slightly surprised. "You are no pawn of mine, my dear. Pawns are things to use and throw away. I have put effort into shaping you into the most useful tool possible. You, my dear, are my knight. Moving in ways others cannot, slipping past when others cannot..." A slender hand stroked the auburn hair in the orange light surrounding Treno. "To call yourself a pawn is to insult all the effort I have sunk into you." Anastasia lowered her eyes as the eternal sunset changed to eternal night.

"I apologize, master." A chuckle, and Kuja turned to look towards the city. His beautiful knight still had some training to do. She needed to improve how many spells she could use, after all.

The Silver Dragon landed on the roof of his mansion in Treno, and the guards that were stationed there stood at attention as Kuja and Anastasia descended from their ride. They saluted as the two magic users approached. Kuja continued to smile, even as he saw that one of the soldiers glanced towards his apprentice. He would have to be removed, as Kuja could not afford for the girl to be distracted by anything not of his own choosing.

"My lord Kings! Young Lady Kings! Welcome back!" Kuja nodded to the guards' greeting, and continued on past them. Just inside the door, the master turned to his apprentice.

"My dear, I've ordered new books for you to study. They should be in your quarters by now." Anastasia, understanding, bowed slightly to Kuja before turning and continuing to walk. The silver-haired man waited until she was out of earshot, and then turned to walk back onto the roof.

The Silver Dragon had retired to the structure that served as its nest while in Treno. The guards, newcomers that didn't know Kuja's ways yet, cast nervous glances in the beast's direction. Kuja studied the guard that had rested his eyes far too long on Anastasia's body. The man quickly noticed the attention, and shuffled nervously. It seemed he'd heard rumors of how jealously guarded the lord's adopted daughter was.

Without a word, Kuja summoned up an eight foot tower of flame to consume the errant guard, while the other watched on in horrified, terrified silence. Yet another loyal servant to Lord Kings was born.

Anastasia Cassul Kings stepped into the quarters she had in her master's residence in Treno, ignoring the bowing, nervous maids that she passed by. Whereas Master Kuja had their fear through his direct actions, Anastasia commanded their obedience through his shadow. Though that wasn't to say that she hadn't electrocuted a few that had particularly irked her.

By the time the red mage was to her study, she had already been told that there was a bath being drawn up for her, and clothes being set out. The woman nodded to the servant that had reported it, and started to look through the books her master had bought for her.

"'Mastery of the elements'...Advanced Status spells...Hm...Oh, and he got me a new book on white magic as well." The last of the three thick books was flipped open, and the red mage peered at the table of contents. "Curaga, Full-Life, Regen...Those are all useful, of course, but...Ah! Now that one I shall make use of. Might...And Dispel as well. Yes, those I shall need to learn. But first..." The red mage frowned at the small puddle she had been creating on the floor, seeming to finally notice it.

"Acacia!" The call drew a rather pretty young blond from the next room, blinking at the brunette. "My bath is drawn, correct?"

"Yes, milady. I shall take care of the puddle while you bathe." Anastasia nodded her satisfaction as she wove through the rooms to her bathroom. Acacia was her favorite servant, and because of that, was treated kinder than the rest.

The bathroom was as luxurious as could be expected in a mansion, though Anastasia didn't seem to be at all dazzled by it. Her wet clothes were shucked off and draped gently over the drying racks. No servants entered here, except to draw her baths and clean up. They were all aware of how fervently independent the woman was.

Anastasia sank into the warm water with a sigh of content, and closed her eyes as she allowed the warmth to sink into her skin and bones. Traveling by air while wet was a good way to become chilled, and she hadn't been wearing much in the way of waterproof clothing. Traveling across the plains had been hard on her as well, and she was in dire need of a bit of rest. Rest which wouldn't be coming soon.

"Milady. Milord has requested that you dress for a social gathering this eve. One of your suitors has asked to spend the evening with you." Anastasia sighed slightly, opening her eyes again. The water was barely chilled.

"I'll be out soon, then. Gather up the gown with the gold belt, would you?" A slight sound of surprise came from the other side of the door.

"The one with the gold belt, milady? You are sure?" Anastasia frowned at the door.

"Yes, I am sure. These inbred fools need to be reminded that I am not as they are. I am a mage in my own right, and no delicate flower to be protected." Anastasia's eyes slid to the green ribbon that was laying on the floor under the drying rack, where it had fallen to.

"Very well, milady." Acacia disappeared from the other side of the closed door, and the red mage got to cleaning herself. Her skin was flawless, and tanned evenly. Her hair fell to the middle of her back and clung there, casting rivulets down her skin until it was wrapped up in a towel and shaken to remove the water.

Anastasia ran her fingers loosely through her hair as she reached for her bathrobe, shrugging it on before padding quietly to her bed chamber. Acacia was waiting by the vanity to do her hair, and the red mage sat in the chair and patiently waited, only wincing when her hair was tugged a little too sharply.

Once her hair was combed and wound up into a bun on the side of her head with tendrils of hair hiding her ears, Anastasia stood and moved to the screen that she dressed behind. A dressing gown was put over her head, and the woman impatiently tugged the fabric until it lay smoothly against her skin, and then frowned at the traditional corset that was wound about her.

She hated this kind of corset. She knew it was to make a woman appear thinner, but it really did nothing but make it impossible to breathe. As a mage, she could still battle in it, yes, but much less effectively.

A long sleeved blouse was offered, and the woman pulled it on, allowing her servant to button up the minute buttons. After the blouse was the gown itself, a beautiful affair of black red and white. It actually had three parts. The bottom most was a dark red skirt, followed by a layer of lighter red that was akin to a gown only in how long it was, revealing the blouse underneath from just above the bust. After that was the heavily decorated overskirt that draped down in front and was secured by a gold cord belt. The whole ordeal dragged along in the back as most of the gowns preferred by her generation did.

The red mage stepped out from behind the dressing screen and looked critically at herself in the full-length mirror that was there for that purpose. She turned to look at her backside once, even, still frowning. She looked like a noblewoman, she supposed. But she still felt bare.

"Acacia, run to the bathroom and fetch my pendant. There's a green ribbon on the floor, fetch that, too. And then find my rapier." The servant nodded and swept off on her errand as the red mage looked at herself, crossing her arms under her chest.

This gown was what she wore when she wished to make an impression as the red mage she was. It was her favorite, and thus, she acted more like herself in it. She even allowed herself to carry a sword with her when she donned it. That fact alone often discouraged many of her suitors, which was what she was planning to do this night.

The door opened, and Anastasia turned to look, knowing who it was already. All the servants knocked, after all. Kuja looked over her appraisingly, and Anastasia slowly turned, as she knew he would ask her to do. The man nodded, smiling, and took a box from under his elbow.

"I've a gift for you, my dear. You wish to shock those fools, yes?" Anastasia stepped forwards to see what he had. She accepted the box that he proffered to her, and gently took the lid off. Her eyebrows went up, and she looked to her master, surprise in her face. "A desert rose, red as blood, with thorns as sharp as your own." Anastasia gently picked up the delicate hair ornament, and smiled.

"Thank you, master." The red mage's voice was soft as she studied the flower. Though it looked as though it were real, the petals were made of the softest silk, and the vines of lacquer. The thorns were genuinely sharp, and the beads hanging off the edge were as bright and vivid as the bloom itself.

"A flower that never dies for my desert rose." Kuja's hand slipped under her chin, and his lips pressed softly to her forehead. Anastasia was shocked. This was the first true sign of affection she had ever received from him. The man chuckled at the expression on her face, and ran his fingers through the bangs at the side of her face for a moment. "Give them no mercy, my knight." Anastasia, more used to this term, nodded hesitantly, her eyes still wide.

Acacia entered the room after Kuja left, likely having curtsied to him in the hall, carrying the three items she had been sent to find, as well as a pair of gloves and a half cape. Her eyes went to the hair ornament that Anastasia was studying again, and she smiled slightly, setting the items down on the vanity so that the red mage could grab them if she wished.

"Your escort should be here in a few minutes, milady." The servant's words brought Anastasia out of her thoughts, and the red mage carefully sat down on the chair before the vanity again, permitting her favorite servant to dab color on her lips and eyelids before impatiently putting a pair of ruby earrings in her own ears and tying the green strip of cloth around her wrist under the cuff of the blouse as Acacia secured the hairpiece in the lady's hair.

Anastasia's pendant was on next, and then the half cape was draped over the left red mage's shoulder and secured there, and Anastasia attached the sheath of her ornamented rapier to the golden cord of her gown. She was then helped with the gloves, and black slippers put onto her feet. After that, the woman cast another look to the mirror, and nodded, finally pleased with what she saw.

Lady Anastasia Cassul Kings swept out of her bed chamber, head held high as she went to crush the hopes of a noble lad that thought himself worthy of her.

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And that's it for To Have Loved and Lost! I admit, this chapter felt like it was mostly filler...Still, I wanted to fill in more of what Kuja and Anastasia's relationship is. I really hope that I upped how creepy people consider Kuja to be.

Cosmos: Well, you certainly portrayed him convincingly enough.

Dreylen: You again?

Cosmos: Yes, of course. I wanted to make sure you hadn't been getting second thoughts on the subject I offered you last chapter. Here. ~gives several books~

Dreylen: ~looks at the title of the top book~ ...How to be a ninja for dummies...? You know, I take that as an insult to my intelligence. Who do you think I am, Naruto?

Cosmos: Well, I thought it better to be safe than sorry. As for Berserker's Delight, I'm afraid it will take time to make it. So you'll have to make do with that little dirk you bought a while ago.

Dreylen: ~reaches over side of bed and comes up with said weapon~ This thing? It doesn't even have an edge! Besides, I'm no where near fit to fight, and I have a job!

Cosmos: I've spoken to your boss, and she's agreed to lower how many hours you have a week. As for being fit... ~reaches over and touches Dreylen's forehead~ There, that should do it. See you after you move in! ~disappears in a flash of light, leaving a piece of paper with an address behind~

Dreylen: Hey! ~notices that clothes are fitting a bit looser than before~ ...Well, at least I'm thinner.

Anyway, I'll be working on Whispers of the Water for a while, as well as the Dissidia crack fic that I've been hinting at. After I've established those, I will begin to post Tears of the World, the next installment of the True Gaia series.