Meltokio

The large room was silent, and Yuan tiredly looked from face to weary face of the comrades who had saved the newly combined land of Aselia. The Sage siblings and their group had arrived almost right on time, having many questions and a few answers of their own. Zelos had been quick to round them all into the main room which was being used as a meeting spot, and had made Yuan stand alone to make his announcement first. Now, he could see the pain that pinched both Sheena and Genis' face, and the guilt that darkened the eyes of Presea, Raine and Regal. Colette was staring worriedly at all of them in turn, but only Zelos seemed to have a master of his emotion, refusing to look up from the floor to meet the gaze of anyone. He knew exactly who wanted to speak first, but he held his own tongue, waiting for one of the seven to initiate the meeting.

It surprised him then when he saw a hand tentively inch into the air, and for a moment Yuan wasn't sure whether or not to smile or take the young Chosen seriously. She was biting down on her lower lip, her eyes worried and wide which immediately told him that she was intently serious. Taking a breath in an attempt to keep his composure, the ancient half-elf fixed her with a firm gaze and said quietly, "Chosen Brunel, this isn't a classroom, you can speak freely."

Colette pinked slightly in sheepish embarrassment but her eyes were quick to regain their seriousness. She sat up straight, her hand unconsciously reaching to her left so she could take a hold of Zelos'. Her voice was surprisingly clear despite her obvious stress when she spoke up, voicing the thoughts of her friends, "You said you had information about Lloyd. What do you know about him?"

Yuan's cerulean eyes flickered with an intense emotion, and his gaze quickly jumped from Colette's anxious face to the petrified one of Sheena's. He could clearly see the fear and concern in the ninja's tawny eyes, and it was reflected in the older and younger faces of their comrades. Careful to keep his voice level and composed, he warned them stonily, "You may not like what you are about to hear... I believe seeing the surveillance tape may help ease you into the truth. It is very easy to be fooled by your hearing, but your sight is another matter... So..."

Turning his back to the seated seven, he silently opened the portable machine he had taken with him from the Renegade base on the outskirts of Flanoir. He could hear the heroes shifting uncomfortably on the couch, obviously stricken by his quiet warning. His keen ears picked up the tapping of Colette's feet on the carpet, the hitched breathing of Genis and the audible gritting of teeth from Regal at the opposite end of the room. Carefully adjusting the screen so that it faced the others, he set it down on the table and again turned back to their anxious expressions. He wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to warn them a second time, why it bothered him so deeply after a near four thousand years of life, but he spoke anyway. "You will not like what you see or hear."

"Play the tape, Yuan." Raine ordered him hoarsely, her eyes narrowed and teeth clenched together tightly. She had a strange sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, foreboding, but somehow she managed to keep a tight lid on it. Icy azure stared into sympathetic cerulean, and she repeated herself fiercely, "Play it!"

The room fell silent as the machine beeped loudly, and all eyes turned immediately towards the silver screen that was now registering a dark black colour. The image slowly came into focus, a fixed angle from the corner of a room, looking down intensely at the floor of a darkened room, illuminated by a lamp on a desk.

"Why?"

Sheena jerked visibly at the sound of Neil's voice calling out the question, and she leaned forwards to get a better view of the room. She cursed however when she saw that the screen was angled in such a way that the figure Neil was addressing was out of sight. However the governor-general's face was clearly in view, he was wearing an expression of surprise and horror, one that effectively mirrored the faces of the rest of them.

"You don't want to know the answer to that question."

"Oh my gosh, Lloyd? What in the world?!" Colette was on her feet in seconds, hands flying up to cover her mouth as if she had just realized she had cried out aloud. She felt Zelos getting to his feet beside her, and without thinking she grabbed his arm and pulled him close to keep herself standing. Her voice faltered in fear, and she whimpered, "Th-That can't be Lloyd, can it?"

"That's impossible." Regal muttered, his eyes narrowing as his mouth thinned into lines. His body went cold, a strange understanding washing over him as he watched the scene unfold. The words that Lloyd spoke coldly to Neil were muted in his ears, as though he didn't want to know what they were saying. 'No... This cannot be possible...'

"Kill me and get it over with, you bastard!"

"This can't be real." Genis hissed in alarm, his gaze swiftly going from the screen to Yuan's stoic face. It dawned on his immediately that Yuan had viewed the tape before, he wasn't looking at the screen yet he visibly flinched as the words continued to shoot out in that familiar voice. His stomach dropped to his feet, and he drew farther back into the couch, wincing when the fresh skin on his chest pulled. "Please tell me this isn't real...!"

Presea jerked as the sound of metal slicing through flesh and bound reverberated through the silent room. She wanted to close her eyes, but kept them wide open as the sword was pulled from Neil's body and his corpse collapsed to the ground.

"NO!"

Sheena jumped as Colette's shriek tore through the room, but she couldn't react quickly enough to come to her aid. Zelos had her in his arms and out of the room within seconds, and Yuan quickly stepped aside and shut the doors to keep the sound inside. The summoner didn't realize she was shaking until Regal's large hand came down to rest on her bandaged forearm, and after shooting him a thankful glance, she looked back at the small screen in time to hear the last words delivered.

"I'm sorry, my old friend."The screen sparked silver before it faded to black, turning off with a quiet beeping noise. Yuan closed the machine silently before he turned back to the shell-shocked group. Sheena was trembling uncontrollably, gripping her arms to her chest in an effort to calm down. Genis looked dangerously close to retching, one hand tightly closed over his mouth, the other gripping at his chest convulsively. Presea turned her head to face the wall, hands clenching and unclenching robotically as Raine closed her eyes and raised her fingers to her temples.

Regal took in a deep breath, turning back towards Yuan with an icy expression. For the angel's credit, he returned the stare but with one that was much more sympathetic yet detached. He stood up from his seat, an action that appeared truly threatening, and he asked in a quietly dangerous voice, "That tape... Everything on that tape, it was real, wasn't it?"

"Nothing was doctored. We, that is, the Renegades, received that tape from the government of Palmacosta a few short hours after the discovery of the corpse." Yuan replied firmly, meeting the narrowed eyes of the duke with honest and cold ones of his own. He continued with quiet formality, "Also, voice recognition software was used to identify Neil, and Lloyd... Those are the facts."

"Wait one damned second Yuan, are you telling me that Lloyd actually murdered–" Sheena exclaimed fiercely, before cutting herself off when she saw the saddened expression that the angel in question gave her. A vicious chill ripped up her spine and her mouth dried instantly, turning her voice into a hoarse whisper, "It's not... there has to be... it just can't be..."

"That software, it can't be infallible." Genis whispered, his voice strained with pain that was both purely physical and emotional. He looked almost pleadingly at Yuan for his words to be proved true, even if he was reaching. His naturally intelligent mind had already looked over the options and knew the most likely choice, but it killed him to even admit it. Still, he wanted to reach out and deny that option, just to keep his sanity intact for the short moment in time. "There's always a margin for error, isn't there?!"

"Of course there is always a margin for error, however..." Yuan let out a weary breath, raising a hand to cover his eyes as though he could fool himself into thinking that he was trapped in a sick nightmare. He continued through grit teeth, his voice remarkably strained through his normally stoic composure, "I would not be showing you this if I believed that it was doctored in any way. Neil's corpse is currently in the Renegade's custody, and... upon preliminary research, the wound appears to be inflicted by Flamberge, which as well all know, is in Lloyd's care."

"His swords were taken from him by the Desians, it could be easy to assume that someone else is using Flamberge and impersonating him." Sheena retorted venomously, getting to her feet and glaring daggers at both the screen and the messenger. A fury she had never known was surging through her and demanded violence, even if she was simply too exhausted to carry it out. "Lloyd was imprisoned with me, they wouldn't just let him out after everything they tried to break us! It makes no sense, and why would he ever kill Neil anyway?! He was our friend!"

"Why would they spare you and keep Lloyd alive? Why kidnap the two of you in the first place when it would've been so much easier to take one of you instead of both? A lot of the motives of this group makes little sense." Yuan countered just as fiercely, though the anger flickered from his face as quickly as it had come. Appearing honestly apologetic, he sighed again and muttered tiredly, "I do not know the things behind what I have been given, I can only tell you the facts that I have. From what information that we have received, I can only reach three conclusions; Neil, the governor-general of Palmacosta has been murdered. Second, the weapon that murdered him causes injuries that are reminiscent of the wounds Flamberge can inflict. Third, Lloyd's voice has been identified, and it can be assumed that he was the one who murdered Neil. All of the evidence supports this theory."

"I refuse to believe that Lloyd would ever harm a former comrade." Presea announced firmly, though her pale face registered that she was still in shock from what she had just seen. She looked from Yuan's tired expression to the fierce one on Sheena's pale face, and shook her head. "My faith in Lloyd is unshakable, he simply could not kill Neil."

"Lloyd, as all of us are, is perfectly capable of committing murder." Raine spoke up softly, and all faces turned to her with varying amounts of shock. She looked apologetically into the eyes of her brother and the summoner who had travelled so earnestly with the swordsman in question but continued with a strange firmness, "He could very well have killed Neil, the evidence that Yuan has presented us with is very convincing. We may not have a motive, but we do have everything else needed to secure the truth. We can't simply rule out Lloyd because of our affection for him."

"Professor Sage!" Colette's voice rang out clearly from the doorway, and her eyes were wide in shock at the words she had just heard. Zelos stood silently at her side, but his cerulean eyes flamed with anger and disbelief, a less vocal but certainly loud reaction in and of itself. "How could you say that about Lloyd, Professor? You know that he's not a murderer!"

"What I knew about Lloyd two years ago may not be true now." Raine replied levelly, though her expression seemed especially fragile on her face as she spoke with cool rationality. She looked in turn at the surrounded comrades who had travelled alongside her and the young man in question, and she could see the different emotions that burned in their eyes. Without words, she knew exactly what they were thinking, and if they agreed with her or wished to banish her to the depths of hell for even suggesting that her student, their dear friend, could commit such a sin.

Sheena looked positively bloodthirsty, her eyes radiating defiant fury despite the pained exhaustion that paled her creamy skin. Genis, his face still gaunt with pain, was wearing an expression of hesitancy and sadness, he knew that her statement had merit but he refused to believe it himself if he had the choice. Presea, so normally stoic, was looking almost angry, her arms folded tightly across her chest and eyes narrowed to fierce slits. Colette seemed to be in pain, her hands also clenched into tight fists and lower lip trembling, whether from anger or the sadness she was experiencing over Neil's death, the professor didn't know. Her husband's face was strangely composed, eyes tightly shut as though to avoid revealing his innermost feelings, something that didn't surprise her. It was the look on Zelos' face that truly stunned her however, while there was fury in his blazing cerulean eyes, there was also sign of resignation, definitely something Raine had not been expecting.

A tense silence had fallen on all of them, and they all knew a wall had suddenly sprung up between themselves. Raine let out a very weak breath, seeming to be resigned to the hatred that was being directed at her, especially from the injured woman she had come to heal. Deciding to play peace-maker, at least for the time being that she could manage it, she murmured, "Sheena, continuing this conversation while you're still in such a way is not in yours, or anyone's, best interests. Seeing as I came here for the purpose of tending to your injuries..."

Sheena didn't answer immediately, her eyes still frozen chips of tawny-coloured ice but her own body betrayed her by perking up at the idea. Crossing her arms tightly around her middle, she took a glance around the room and her face pinked slightly when she realized that now all eyes had turned to her. Not wanting the rest of her friends to know just how harshly she had been treated, she lowered her chin and mumbled a weary, "Yeah, okay... Can we go upstairs?"

"Certainly." Raine replied with a nod, and she got slowly to her feet, waiting for Sheena to show her the way. She realized quite quickly that the ninja was still having difficulty walking in a normal pace, and without even thinking about it, the professor slowed her feet to make up for it. Leaving the room behind, Raine caressed the smooth handle of her staff, a small frown making its way to her mouth as Sheena followed her silently.

"Where are you feeling the most pain?"

"It's everywhere, my entire body... it hurts." Sheena answered her quietly, casting her gaze to her feet as though she'd be able to block out the pain that way. Absently rubbing at her arms even though the action pulled at her still-healing skin, she added weakly, knowing that it was imperative for Raine to know what she was dealing with if she was to successfully heal, "The wounds on my back though, I can feel those the worst, it's almost like my skin is on fire sometimes. Zelos tried hard, I know he did, it practically killed him, but... a lot of what happened there, it's still..."

"They pushed your body to its limits, it truly is a miracle that you survived without immediate treatment." Raine finished for her, her voice remarkably gentle as she placed her hand lightly on her shoulder, aiding her up the last few stairs to the second floor. Her eyes narrowed slightly however as she saw Sheena purse her lips, and despite herself, her brain worked before her heart could stop her mouth, "Unless it wasn't some accident. Whoever did this to you, did it with full knowledge that the wounds they inflicted wouldn't endanger your life. It's impossible for the same torturer to confirm that you were dead, if they worked so hard to keep you alive while inflicting pain."

"So they spared me when they could have killed me." Sheena finished with a hiss, clearly displeased with the idea. She stalked the last few steps into her room, all but throwing herself onto the cot to await her treatment. Her anger bubbled away unhappily inside of her, assaulting her already battered pride until she was sure that it had become nonexistent. 'Damn... I survived because my enemy took pity on me, is that what it really came down to? I can't believe this... All of my training, all of my willpower, none of it mattered in the end, I'm alive because of a mercy I was shown. I'd rather have died than live because of that, it's a shame on my being a ninja of Mizuho.'

Raine read the signs of anger and distress in the young woman's eyes, and the professor felt for her lost pride. She had felt the same way when she had realized that she was only alive because her enemies had left her with an escape route when her home was sent up in flames. However... "Sheena, our being alive means much more than our feelings of pride, or shame. You survived, and whether or not it was an enemy's mercy or by some miracle, we must be grateful for it. Because we are alive, because of these circumstances, we can find out the truth and carry onwards to protect our homes and our loved ones. You can't do that if your life is snuffed out, correct?"

"You know, I really hate it when you're right." Sheena muttered darkly, closing her eyes tightly in a vain attempt to block out her surroundings. She could faintly hear Raine stepping closer, and the soft rustling of fabric as she rolled up her sleeves. A few moments of silence passed, and befuddled, Sheena opened her eyes to catch the strangely hesitant expression on Raine's face. "Is there something wrong?"

The professor didn't answer at first, her expression plain and fearful, one that Sheena had seen only rarely. Her hands extended in front of her, she was staring at her fingers like she had never seen them before. After a moment, she looked up to meet Sheena's curious eyes, then her voice seemed to tremble as she began, "I... I don't– "

"RAINE! COME QUICK!"

Both women jerked as if they'd been struck, and Sheena bolted to her feet as Raine spun on her heel to dash downstairs, where the scream had originated from. Despite her injuries, the ninja followed closely behind her professor, adrenalin building in her blood as she cleared the stairs two at a time. Her momentum was her undoing, she tripped down the last step and crashed into the wall, only to freeze when she saw what had sparked the sudden chaos.

"Oh my g... G-Genis!"

Presea was on her knees, her hands hovering fearfully over the convulsing form of their youngest comrade. Blood pooled from the wound in his chest that she had thought had been healed, and a thin stream of the liquid trickled from the corner of his mouth as he stared, unseeingly, at the ceiling above. Colette was staring fearfully at the scene, clutching at Zelos' arm to keep him from lunging forward in an effort to heal the wound. Her voice was hysterical as she exclaimed when he tried to yank himself away, "No Zelos, you can't! You don't have enough mana, you'll kill yourself!"

"He's dying dammit, I can't just sit here and watch it!" Zelos shouted back, only for her hands to tighten like iron braces around his chest. He struggled but to no avail, and Sheena was shocked to see crystalline tears shining in his eyes as he tried to get to Genis' side. "Let me go!"

"Professor!" Presea's voice stuck harshly in her throat when she cried out, pale blue eyes staring in horror at the frame of the healer. Raine didn't move from where she had in arrived, clutching at the railing to support herself, face a picture of shocked terror. Not understanding what had made her freeze when her brother was in so much peril, she called in hopes of snapping her from her daze, "Professor! Genis needs you!"

"I..."

"Stand aside." Regal cut in without pause, gently shouldering his way past Colette and Zelos to reach the sides of their two smallest comrades. His eyes darkened with focus and he raised his hands to hover them over Genis' inert form, charging his mana until bright green sparks began to flicker around his fingertips. His voice was hoarse and straining as he hissed the name of his spell, and immediately his mana began to pour into the open and bleeding wound, "Grand Healer...!"

Presea, who had paled significantly in the strained moments, sat up on her knees and leaned protectively over him. Sparks of Regal's mana danced almost playfully around the freshly torn skin that Raine had summoned, sealing the wound shut and quickly drying the blood that had escaped while replenishing the volume that he had lost. Watching colour return to his face, the hunter let out a breath of relief, crumpling forward until her head was resting on his bloodied chest. "Oh thank Martel... Thank you Regal, thank you so much..."

Regal didn't answer, instead he gently took a hold of Genis' now unconscious form and, after a moment so Presea could right herself, hoisted it into his arms. Presea was stood at attention at his side, ready to follow him wherever he was going to take Genis. Cradling his brother-in-law with an expertise that surprised everyone in the room, he finally turned to look seriously at the stunned expression that his wife was wearing. "Raine..."

"I... I..." Raine mumbled, staring from her brother's peacefully sleeping form to her own shaking hands. At first there was a strange beat of silence, then she looked up to meet her husband's eyes with tears shining in her own. Shaking her head from side to side, she whispered brokenly, "I'm so sorry... I... I need... I need to go outside for some fresh air... please, excuse me." Without waiting for another word from anyone, she quickly brushed past her assembled comrades and all but ran for the door, blinded by the salty wetness that stung at her eyes.

Presea reacted first, turning towards Regal who had hesitated with Genis bundled in his arms, wanting to chase after his wife and also to attend to his brother-in-law. Her voice was soft when she reached up to touch Genis' lightly on the arm, explaining gently, "It's alright, I will follow Professor Sage. Please attend to Genis for me."

"Presea... thank you."

Presea turned so she wouldn't have to see Regal carrying away the young boy, and she was quick to chase after the woman who had failed to heal him. She didn't need to go very far, as soon as she stepped onto the stairway right outside the door, she spotted the half-elven woman hunched over on herself, shaking with what seemed to be sobs. The axeman was torn between two entirely different radical emotions, one was sympathy, the other and more frightening, was fury. The first she knew well, Raine was her companion, they had travelled for quite some time together and though they were never particularly close, they were still comrades that worked tirelessly towards the same goals. The fury confused her, but a few moments of deep thinking quickly settled out the reasoning.

Raine was Genis' protector, the older healer could do what Presea had failed to in the year that she'd lived beside the young mage. The idea that, in the most crucial of moments, Raine had failed to come to her brother's aid was almost treason to the hunter. She had seen firsthand what lengths the woman would go to to protect her younger brother, almost to the point of motherhood, something Genis had openly admitted. In an irrational way of thinking that totally confused the normally logical girl, Raine had failed in her duty to him, and left him to die. It was inexplicable and completely unacceptable.

These two emotions warred within Presea for nearly half a minute, and she watched as Raine's slender shoulders heaved with the force of her silent sobs. It only took the second half of that minute for her to make up her mind, and sympathy had won over. The urge to come to her friend's side in a time of emotional upheaval was stronger than her indulgence for emotion, especially when it was something so twisted that she didn't understand it well enough to want to act on it. Her feet were silent on the stone as she crossed the last few feet between them, and her voice was nearly a murmur when she spoke up, "Professor..."

Raine jerked, thoroughly startled, and whirled at once. Her right hand, which had been loosely gripping her staff, tightened and raised the Crystal Rod in an offensive stance. The second she saw Presea's surprised expression, she relaxed and then she raised her hand to touch the quickly drying tears on her face. Turning her head away to spare herself the shame, she mumbled ruefully, "I'm a horrible excuse for a sister, for a teacher... freezing up at the very worst moment..."

"Professor, if you believe those things, then they most certainly will become truth in the future." Presea wanted to clap her hand over her mouth when the words slipped past her lips, and from the surprised expression on Raine's face, she too felt the shock. However Raine's expression had melted into one of wry sadness, while Presea remained startled by her coarseness. 'Where... Where did that come from? I... I am angry, yes, but... but to hurt her, to kick her while she's already suffering...?'

"Yes, you're correct... if I continue to believe those words, they will come true in due time." Raine agreed quietly, shaking her head while she dried off her tears with the edge of her long sleeve. The orange fabric of her robe, normally so smooth, felt strangely rough against her wet skin. "However Presea, I'm afraid that given these circumstances, they may very well be the truth, my truth."

Three beats of silence followed those words, then finally Presea shook her head as if to clear the static in her ears. Raine was staring off at something she couldn't see in the distance, prompting her to finally say, "I don't understand what you mean by that, Professor Sage. Are you talking about what happened inside...?"

"I've..." Raine faltered, wincing as the truth she had suspected struck her hard in the heart. At first, she had worked tirelessly to deny it, the strange emptiness in her mind and chest where the surge of life had always been. Her hands felt so cold to her now, without use now that the emptiness had taken a hold of her. Turning her gaze back to the bewildered face of the hunter who had been her brother's target of affection for so long, she explained weakly, "Presea, when I was in Altamira, I believe the Desians attacked mine and Regal's home when he was in Lezareno. We had just gotten word of Sheena and Lloyd from Zelos, and had decided to come here immediately to help in any way we could. However, someone set fire to the mansion. At the time, I was trapped inside the master room, and had no where else to go but to the balcony, and to jump into the ocean."

Presea saw her body shudder when she spoke the words, apparently reliving the horrifying memory. She kept her silence, even though she couldn't possibly fathom why Raine was telling her all of this, her instincts warned her that it was important that she listen, that she understand.

"I must have struck my head when I jumped, or perhaps the shock of it..." Raine fell off into a nearly silent whisper, and she again shook her head from side to side. Her hands were gripping even tighter at her rod now, breathing coming in deep and frightened bursts. "I contracted a very mild case of retrograde amnesia, I believe that it was the shock of facing my phobia head-on that possibly set my mind into a lock-down, to protect itself... However, it quickly dissipated once I was safe enough to regain sanity, but in the process, I lost my ability to heal."

Presea had considered herself stunned a few moments ago, but now she was entirely flabbergasted. Her mind spun insanely quickly, searching for hidden meanings or nuances in the explanation she had just received, but it came up painfully empty. She slowly repeated the words she had just been told, hoping for Raine to clear her mind, "You've lost... your ability to heal?"

"Yes."


Luin

That Afternoon

It was the hoarse roar of an insult that caused the angel's eyes to flicker from her destination to the scene at the shop's entrance, and Tasogare paused mid-step when she saw the men that had surrounded the cloaked form of a woman at the base of a statue. One of them, the tallest, had his hand firmly wrapped around her wrist and was jerking her away from the inscription, face alight with a fury that she knew all too well. Racial hatred between half-elves and humans had always been impressively strong in both worlds, however the gap between elves and humankind was almost as impressive. There were many reasons why the elvenkind refused to leave their sanctuary in Heimdall, and the threat of an attack the moment they entered the public eye was one of them. Humans either feared them to the point of ignorance, or hated them to the point of violence, and from the display Tasogare was witnessing, this particular band of humans were unfortunately the latter.

"Go back to Heimdall you waste of skin!" The man that had grabbed her lashed out with his foot, striking the side of her head with alarming force. The woman sprawled backwards, hitting the stone cube that supported the statue with a sickening thud. Blood peppered the ground where she lay, twitching in pain, and the group towered almost proudly above her.

Tasogare turned her head away from the sight, her eyes remaining coldly impassive as the sound of feet striking the already injured form of the woman echoed in the marketplace. She was not surprised to find the area empty, the moment trouble brewed there was either a crowd or everyone turned a blind eye. Again, the latter option had occurred here, and it sickened the angel to see it.

A yelp broke through the angry yelling, and surprised, Tasogare fixed her golden eyes on the hunched figure. Her hood had fallen back, revealing a bloody face with sharp cerulean eyes and impossibly pale skin. Her silver-blue hair was coated with dirt and grime, an obvious testament to her countless days of travelling. Her body turned rigid as she looked from the elf's pained face to the one of stone that stood above her. Her breath left her in a wordless whisper, the name leaving her filled with a moment of shock and realization. "Sage."

"You don't belong here elf!" A second man spat on her clothing, watching with a dirty glare as she cringed back, whimpering all the while. She held her head in her hands, cowering away from the kicks that were aimed at her mid-section and face, desperately attempting to shield herself from the harsh blows. "Your dirtying our town with your black magic!"

The first man, who had struck her before, had his arm raised as though to bring it down on the top of her head, but his attack never made it there. Tasogare's hand closed around his exposed wrist, clenching just enough to stop him from moving. Her own cloak fluttered softly from the speed she had used to clear the distance, and she stood protectively in front of the battered elf. Golden eyes cold and emotionless, her voice rung out stonily, "What an uninformed lot you humans are."

The man started, clearly startled to have been interrupted so quickly. His companions immediately backed away from the female who stood between them and their prey, eyes widening at the sight of such a dangerous face. His own green eyes sparkled with fear as her hand closed painfully tight on his wrist, cracking his bones until he fell to his knees in front of her from the pain. He groaned loudly, grabbing at her hand desperately to pry off her fingers, but her grip was too firm for him to even manage to loosen the hold an inch. "Ughn! S-Stop it, let me go! Argh!"

Her thin lips quirked into what was approaching a smile, and her eyes blazed with the light of battle even though she hadn't even considered using her weapon. Hand tightening, she broke his wrist with a simple squeeze, eliciting a hoarse scream of agony from the man at her feet. Her voice was quiet but incredibly deadly, retaining a smooth politeness all the while she tortured him with a single hand, "I must politely decline. Now, if you are kind enough to turn your back on your misdeeds on this innocent woman, I will release your hand and let you live." Her eyes flickered up, scanning the shocked faces of his obviously frightened comrades, and she added silkily, "That applies to all of you, as well. Leave her be and I'll return the favour by sparing your lives, as much as I'd like to rid you of them."

At once and with purpose, the surrounding men fled the area with shocked gasps, too afraid to challenge the strange female who had so easily brought their comrade to his knees. The sight of their cowardice brought a malicious edge to Tasogare's half-smile, and her honeyed eyes looked down into the fearful ones of the man at her feet. "So... Your decision...?"

"I-I'll leave her alone, j-j-just don't kill me, please! I'm begging you!"

"A human begging at the feet of a half-elf, now that is a sight of beauty." Tasogare mused in that same silken tone, but she released his arm anyway, stepped backwards when he fell, cradling his injury to his chest. He had started to sob, the broken bones poking through his skin to allow blood to seep from the wound, staining the front of his shirt. She waited until he had managed to pick himself up, also staggering away from her, fleeing like his friends had before him. Waiting until she was certain that they had truly disappeared, she turned back to the huddling mess of an elf that the men had left behind.

"Pl-Please don't hurt me... I don't have very much, but what I have you can take, I just wish to be left alone!" Her voice rose hysterically and she was trying to speak through ragged hiccuping sobs, clutching her injured body to protect herself from the new threat. Curled up so tightly to the base of the statue that her cheek was pressing to the stone, she whimpered pathetically as she parroted the words of her attacker, "I'm begging you, please just leave me in peace! I wasn't defiling the statue or harming anyone, I just–"

"I have no intention of harming you, Virginia Sage. In fact, my motives are quite the opposite of the thugs that harassed you." Tasogare's voice, which only moments before had dripped poisonous threats, had become strangely soft and soothing. She knelt at the side of the injured elf, her hands kept close to her own body as a sign of peace, and she continued gently, "I will not harm you, by the power of Derris Kharlan, that I swear to you."

Virginia's eyes widened to perfectly round saucers, and for a long moment she wasn't sure what to say. Clutching herself wearily, her eyes suspiciously raked over the stranger and tried to find hints of deceit in her young face. Her golden eyes were blank, a forced expression she noted, but there was a weariness in her body, her stance, that could only come with age. Her voice very quiet, she asked, "H-How... How do you know my name?"

"I am an acquaintance of your children." The lie came so smoothly from her lips, dripping sincerity that she had perfected over decades. She remembered quite clearly the rumours of the elf's lucidity, apparently her mind had shattered a few years after her husband's death and her last-ditch attempt to send her children to safety. However, looking into the surprisingly clear eyes that shone with an intelligence that Tasogare immediately knew had been inherited by Raine, she had trouble believing them.

Virginia stiffened, and one hand fell to her stomach before it clenched into a tight fist and she took in a deep breath of air. Her expression was one of pain, a pain that had nothing to do with the physical beating she had took. Face pinched, she let out that same breath, and murmured with a voice full of sorrow, "My children... My poor, poor children..."

Tasogare said nothing, she was off-kilter and her mind was spinning with this new development. She had heard that Virginia had fled Exire, and her whereabouts were currently unknown, though Lloyd had promised to track her down. An elf travelling alone was dangerous enough in the unstable world, but an insane elf alone was almost suicide.

Virgina's halting voice snapped the angel back to the present, and the sudden intensity in her golden eyes brought her to an abrupt stop. Swallowing her nervousness, she looked down at her bruised body as though seeing it for the first time. Wincing with pain when she uncurled her hands, she finally mustered her courage and asked, "Though this seems out of turn, especially since you came to my aid, I have a favour I wish to ask of you. You say you know my children, I... I am searching for them... Is it possible that... you can take me to them? To my children?"

Tasogare would have smiled if she hadn't had better control over herself, instead her face softened by a fraction and she leaned back on the balls of her feet. Making herself smaller seemed to have calmed Virginia somewhat, and she sat up straighter, pointed ears perked up in anticipation of an answer. "You ask that I take you to your children, and as much as I'd be honoured to do so, I'm afraid that by myself, it would be impossible. However, I do have comrades that could assist me, but that would involve my leaving Luin, and I would worry to leave you alone. Supposing you don't mind joining me for a short while..."

"Yes, yes of course I will!" Virginia burst out, unable to mask her excitement, even to this stranger. Clapping her hands together, she held them to her mouth as though she was in prayer, closing her eyes tightly. The serene expression and bloody skin confused Tasogare, but her following words were quick to brush it away, "I... would do anything to see my beloved children again. E-Even if they... refuse to see me... I..."

"You're the one that's wrong! How could you.... How could you...?!"

Wincing as the words her daughter yelled at her slammed into her head, the elven woman caved in on herself and two crystalline tears trickled down her face. Finally managing to take a deep breath in a desperate attempt to calm herself, she repeated brokenly, "I wish to see my children."

"Then I shall help you find them." Tasogare paused before getting to her feet, as if for the first time noticing the severity of the wound in her face. Blood still trickled freely from the gash in her temple, mixing in with her drying tears and for a moment, she was unsure of what to do or say. "Ah, but your..."

Virginia blinked, not understanding before she noticed that Tasogare was almost unconsciously pulling her gloves from her hands to aid her. She knew that instinct, as it drove all of her kind, the earthly mana that flowed through all of those with eleven blood, to connect with the world in any way possible. Plucking at the hem of her cloak, she raised the rough fabric to her wound and scrubbed gently at the blood that flowed from her torn skin, not minding the fact that the dust from the road would mingle with it. Raising her right hand, she pressed her bruised fingertips to the wound and closed her eyes, and green sparks of mana immediately began to fizzle into the injury. "First Aid..."

Though she had lived for many years wearing a mask of unconcernedness, this simple act of healing brought surprise to Tasogare's face. She understood at once exactly what genes Raine and Genis had inherited from their elven mother, magical skills that had miraculously avoided becoming diluted by the human blood of their father. "Amazing... You are indeed a proficient healer, it is no wonder your daughter has such a knack for those abilities..."

Virginia nearly smiled, dropping her hand from her temple to reveal the fresh pink skin that had grown in. A small line was the only reminder of what she had gone through, her healing arts having easily done away with any other lasting damages. Though her voice was still tight with pain, pride trickled through those cracks as she spoke fondly of Raine, "She was always intelligent, even from when she was an infant... I taught her everything I knew, hoping that she could use it better than I in the future... However, I proved to be an unfit mother, and failed to protect her from the knights of the papacy, who wanted my daughter for her blessed talents. I can only say that I am truly glad that something I taught her was beneficial to her, and to Genis."

"You would most definitely be surprised if you were to see them now." Tasogare mused quietly, speaking so softly that her own keen ears were incapable of hearing the words she'd uttered. Clearing her throat, she stood up, and after a moment of hesitation, offered her hand to the still-kneeling Virginia. The elf refused her help and stood up on her own, though her legs trembled dangerously, warning that her body was still damaged from her travels. "Perhaps we should settle in a hotel for the night, so you have time to recuperate...?"

"Absolutely not. I have been travelling nonstop for nearly two years on my feet alone, stopping now would make all of that effort meaningless. Besides, you look as if you could go for weeks without pause yourself, and seeing as you are granting my wish, it would be rude for me to slow you down." Virginia replied shortly, raising a hand when it appeared that Tasogare was going to continue her argument. Blue eyes blazing, she turned on the angel and added on quite fiercely, "I will not rest until my legs refuse to carry me another step. I owe my children that much after everything I put them through. You, a child yourself, may not understand that devotion, so I will not attempt to explain it to you, but that is my thinking process!"

Though she never would have thought it possible, after almost five centuries without ever cracking a true smile, Tasogare threw her head back and laughed. Her shoulders shook with the force of her mirth, and her hands clutched at her stomach while her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Her lapse in control only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough, and she turned back to Virgina, golden eyes bright with life as she explained, "You are a very strange elf, perhaps the strangest that I have ever met in my obscenely long life. For someone like you to call me a child... That was the most amusing thing I have ever heard. Fine then, in admiration of your spirit, we won't rest for the night. Come then, my ally has taken up residence at the Tower of Mana, or what remains of it. We shall head there immediately."

"Your ally will know where my daughter and son are?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. In the case that it is the latter, I'm sure he can find the information for us in a short period of time. Otherwise, he would not be nearly as indispensable as he believes, correct?"

"Yes... quite."

AN

I really hate it when people think I'd use such a lame plot device, lol, getting those reviews about Raine's amnesia drove me insane. XD It was nearly impossible to bite my tongue and not reply... I'm so evil that way, lol, I wondered who'd wanna slap me afterwards for doing this to the poor Professor? I got my share of kicks from my sister alone, lol, she was pretty annoyed. XD Then I went and involved poor Genis and Virginia in the share of plot-kicking, I think I enjoy picking on the Sage family... Strange how I only took notice of this after writing the damned chapter. XD

Ahem, yes... REVIEW REPLIES! (throws a wad of paper at Sychotic) Happy now?

Jivey: Well, Tasogare is going to be overdue for character development for awhile... I'd really prefer to keep her character as shrouded in mystery as possible, but I worry I'm not going about it very well. Hehe, her actions only make sense to me, so I guess it's a good enough thing...? Nn. Ah yes, lol, Raine's amnesia... Read above. Hehe.

BurnTheWriter: First, LOVE your name, lol, it makes me think of the witch hunts, let's burn the freaky people who are probably more down to earth than you are! Ahem, sorry, that must have sounded incredibly creepy. Hehe. Yes, more on Tasogare will be coming, but in very very small bits. Till at least the third arc of my story (I label it as arcs just to keep it organized in my head, so third arc is probably... Hmm, maybe 3/4 through?), I'm trusting my readers to put her character together on their own, it is more fun that way. I really want to hear what peoples' theories are on her, it's just so fun to see where someone's imagine takes them!

Sychotic: (pokes repeatedly) No I will not stop poking you, and I will continue to use my review replies to torture you as such. It is really a source of entertainment for me. XD Nah, I can't abandon a story like this, my brain (not to mention my plot-fairy) would never forgive me. I'm just bad that way.

Maurice: Ah, how I love your long reviews. It's such a pleasant reminder that there are people who are willing to spend time to write out their thoughts... Heehee, just what I needed. Yes, everybody had a chance to recover, but didn't use it wisely, and there's a hell of a lot more where all of that stress came from... Heheh. I'm horrible, aren't I? Just damn horrible. I need to leave off more hints, don't I? XD

PPS: Please bear with me on the odd alignment, my goddamn computer decides to reroute me to the top of the document each and every time I decide to click on the kfcing toolbar. I can't even insert a kfcing line without the line ending up at the TOP. It's really annoying to a perfectionist, so I just want to apologize for it, because it just seems so weird. T.T

Sky