"Odille!" I yelled as I burst into through the large black doors. "What?" Odille asked. She was sitting on the arch to the next room, leaning back slightly.

"Odille! I need to know!" I said. She just looked at me with curiosity, but a little annoyed at the same time.

"Who. . . . who was Adalard?" I asked, breathing heavily from running all the way here, in since I was ported to the middle of the desert.

"Tell me," I told her as I walked closer, "I have to know. Who is Adalard?"

She stood up and stared at me gravely.

"Don't mention that name ever again," she then said. "But. . . . why not?" I asked.

She flew down towards me and stared at me with deep hatred, but said in a normal tone, "There's no need in KNOWING why, you just need to take the punishment." And then she just vanished!

Everything just then went black.

I slowly opened my eyes, regaining my consciousness, and in front of me was Odille, looking at me solemnly, and behind her, was the same arch where she sat from before.

"You're done," she said in a sad tone, like if she was sorry.

What? What was I done with? Are we, Odille and I done?

"The punishment. . . ." she said. My vision sharpened, and in one hand, I saw Odille holding a clock, and in the other, a candle. "The punishment is done. But before you endured it, you were knocked out," the Mipedian explained. She then set down the clock and offered a hand to help me up. I sat up and shook my head.

What was I knocked out by? Her? Did she hit me with the clock or something? And, why would she not let me endure the punishment for what Adalard did?

Adalard. . . . I HAD to ask her one more time. And, if she will not respond, I thought, then, I will go for Taffial for answers. I would know one way or another why I'm doing this, and why I feel responsible.

"You were knocked out," she said, but looked somewhat nervous, "by. . . . um. . . . a rock."

"A rock?"

"Erm, yes. Well, you see, this castle is very old, so, um, the arch above you is crumbling, so, um, a part of it fell off!"

She laughed nervously. I could tell she was lying. But. . . . I didn't care HOW I was knocked out. Nor why. All I could think about is why I took the punishment in the first place. And Adalard.

My memories took me to where Corinne and I were standing in front of the castle, and I was trembling with fear. But I remembered the familiar presence that I feel right now. I looked up at Odille. Her yellow eyes were bright, as if I said I forgive you or something, and she smiled sweetly.

I forgot about her extended hand, and took it. Once I stood up, I looked behind me.

There was no arch.

There was only a painting of Odille, holding something like an orb or something and looking down solemnly. That was new.

She saw me stare at it, and said, "Yeah, that was painted by Adalard." I laughed and asked, "Since when does Adalard paint? I thought he was a fighter, or, like a Muge or something, you know, like most creatures!" She looked at me, annoyed. Then, I knew of a new way of finding out more about Adalard.

"So. . . ." I started. But Odille read my mind and said, "Don't even!" and vanished.

I laughed, knowing that's what Odille would do. And I looked around. I was not where I thought I was. I was in some sort of bedroom of some kind. It was full of paintings of Odille, and the bed was grey, all covered in cobwebs, just like the rest of the room.

I decided to stop looking around at the place, even though it was mysterious. I knew I had to get to Taffial, for he was the one holding the answers. I walked out of the room, and it was one of the doors that lead to the main dining room. In front of my eyes, stood the door where I saw Corinne, dead. I shivered, and it seemed so close. I stood in fear.

I remembered clearly of how Corinne looked. That crimson-blue hair, that torso with no limbs, those newly bleeding scars, and those eyes, darker than black, with blood tearing down from them.

I wonder what her last words were.

I wondered what her last wish was when she died, but, I will never know. I wondered if she hoped to live, or, if I was kept alive, or, if the ones she cared about have a good life without her.

That would be something that she would wish for.

If I was in her position, and if I knew if I was going to die, I honestly don't know what I would wish for.

She was innocent. She did not deserve to die. But. . . . Odille killed her, because. . . . she wasn't pretty? That didn't make sense! That didn't make any sense at all!

The innocent don't deserve to die. . . .

I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I guess that's why Taffial got so mad. He was strong. He can hide his tears. But I. . . . I can't. Because I'm weak.

Then, I thought of Adalard and quickly rushed out of the room, but paused and looked back at that door. Maybe I could see Corinne one last time. . . .

All of the visions of her corpse flashed throughout my mind. I jumped.

I didn't have the courage to. She was dead. And I couldn't change that fact.
And even though she was alive on Earth, she will never have her memories of the dark castle.
I stiffened, and then took a deep breath. I decided to leave.

I took out my scanner and ported to Taffial's room.

Once my code got transported to the small workspace, it was pretty much the same as it was last time, except the tools on the work table were more scattered, and it was covered in rock bits and scraps of wood.

I waited there, not knowing what would happen if I just barged into another room, and Taffial was in some sort of important meeting, and they would blast me to pieces because maybe I would hear something important, like a huge secret about Perim or something. So, I decided to take a peek out of the door to see if anyone was there, and if not, then I could see Taffial alone.

I reached for the knob, listening if anyone was coming. But it was quiet. So, I slowly turned the knob and peeked out of the door. The hallway was white, and the floor was wooden. Wooden floors are pretty rare for a Mipedian to have. And then, I fully opened the door and stepped outside. But, as I took another careful step,

THUNK!

I fell flat on my face. I think I even bled somewhere on it. I just simply wiped it off and looked behind me to see what I tripped on. I saw a liquid substance, and it was placed right in front of the door, like it was put there. . . . on purpose.

I got up, and I heard someone coming up the stairs. Their steps were so heavy that I don't think it could have been Taffial. It was like they wore boots made of steel. I tried to run inside, but slipped on the substance again and made another THUNK! Sideways, I saw that liquid spread all over the floor within a yard's range, like if whoever set up this trap knew I was going to port to that one room, and knew that if I got out, I would slip and fall down.

What a horrible prank Taffial.

Or, what if it wasn't Taffial? What if this trap was set up by someone else who captured and killed Taffial, and wants to kill me next? I started to breath heavily. I was confused. But that prank, or trap, was set for ME. I knew. Because someone couldn't step over this spread-out liquid, and it was so someone who got into the room couldn't get out without being heard.

I wanted to leave so that I couldn't be either laughed at by Taffial or killed. . . . but. . . . Adalard. I had to know. . . . but. . . . maybe I could ask later. I was all covered in this strange liquid, and was hurt pretty badly. What was this liquid, anyway?

The wooden flooring! How come the wooden flooring didn't absorb the liquid? It must have been some weird substance. . . . I even think it was gooey.

The footsteps got closer. I had to port out of here. So, I reached for my back pocket. . . . and my scanner was gone! Where was it?! I frantically looked everywhere, and saw that I dropped it when I slipped.

I crawled over towards it, and when I could finally reach for it, another hand grabbed it first.

I looked up.

Taffial.

"Taffial! Why did you pull this prank on me?" I asked.

He looked at me coldly and said nothing. His eyes had mixed feelings, like rage, hate, and crazed. He stared at me for a long time.

Then, he took my scanner, and hid it under his vest. "What are you doing!?" I yelled. Then, he switched the blue scanner for a sharp, jagged dagger that had a fancy design on the handle.

I looked at him with fear, and asked, "What. . . . what are you doing?"

He said nothing, but stared at me, but he looked behind me, and then back at me.

"Corinne," he finally said.

"Corin-?" I tried to ask, but Taffial took a clean swipe at me, but I sprinted away from him. Why was he trying to kill me?! And WHAT about Corinne?

I made a quick run to his left and dodged his second swipe. I started to run down the stairs, almost wanting to slide on the rail because it was most likely faster. I could hear Taffial right behind me! His footsteps were loud on the wooden steps even for his swiftness. I then heard another swipe and a part of my shirt being torn.

I gulped and felt my adrenaline in my body, hopefully making me faster. But, he still was right behind me, making more swings of the dagger and yelling. Then, as I made my way down to the door, it was covered in that strange liquid again. What's with this?!

I ran to the door and tried to use the doorknob a million times, every once in a while looking back. It seemed that Taffial wasn't that close to me as I thought he was. He was still halfway down the staircase, staring at me with a deathly glare. I shook the doorknob more, but it didn't budge. I tried to look for another exit, like a window, or another door, but all the windows were covered with the liquid, and there were no more doors.

I was trapped.

Taffial was still running down the staircase; I had to find a weapon, and fast! I scanned the room. And I found a sword over the fireplace, but it was exactly across the room! I had to make a run for it. It was my only chance of hope. I sprinted past the stair case and Taffial, but he started to run faster than me, and he was at the bottom, and running towards me, yelling "REVENGE!"

Revenge? What was he talking about?

I wanted to turn around and ask, but I knew that he would be too reckless and furious to answer. I had to fight back, or else.

Once I reached the fireplace, which had a portrait of Corinne under a broken glass, and another one of Taffial, and the sword was inside a black sheath. I made a jump for it, but it was too high. I turned around, and Taffial was still swinging as he was heading towards me. I made another jump. Another, then another! But it was too high! He was right behind me! I could feel it! I could feel his deep hatred for me! I'm doomed! The only chance I have now is to try to reason with Taffial!

But he was so mad at me! If he wanted to do anything, it would be only to kill me! Looking at him, I even think that he would even risk his own life at the expense of my death.

I quickly turned around. He was right there. But he was breathing heavily, but I could see his determination in his eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked loudly.

He stared me coldly and repeated, "Revenge."

He used both hands to swipe again at me, but I ran, and he then fell on the fireplace with all of his weight, making the wall shake. And the sword fell down and slid out of the sheath right in front of me.

I noticed Taffial wasn't knocked out; he was ready to get up and make another attempt.

So, I quickly took the sword and put it in two hands like they do in the movies, but I couldn't figure out which hand goes over which! I tried right over left, then switched to left over right. I never used a sword before!

But. . . . looking in Taffial's eyes, I know that he's not going to reason with me unless we fight.

I saw him slowly get up, and I straightened my position. He was staring me in the eyes, but made a way towards a desk! What was he doing? Should I attack him? Or shouldn't I wait until he took another swipe at me with his dagger?

But, once I saw him open the drawer in the desk. It was really long. He took out a golden sheath with fancy dragon designs on it.

I stared in fear. Then, he took out a mighty sword, with a shiny golden handle with intricate designs with jewels on it, and the blade was long and sharp.

He walked towards me.

"This is over," he said gravely, "FOR CORINNE!"

He ran towards me with unimaginable speed! I closed my eyes.

CLING!

I felt myself blocking Taffial's sword with such force that I could barely break away.

He was staring at me so gravely that he was almost calm. But he had anger in his eyes. He started to say as he pushed harder, "I KNEW it! You KILLED HER! YOU KILLED CORINNE! YOU LIED TO ME! YOU WOULDN'T JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH, BECAUSE NO ONE, I REPEAT, NO ONE MADE IT OUT OF THAT CASTLE WELL, AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN GO THERE! I KNOW IT! YOU KILLED CORINNE!"

And he pushed so hard that I broke away, I started to run, but I turned around to block a few of his swings. He regained stamina. We were both running at the same speed, smashing our swords together with all of our forces, mine for survival, and his for vengeance.

I tried to talk while we were banging our swords together, but I was running out of energy! I had to either say something persuasive or defeat him!
We continued, and he was now yelling and cursing when we broke away. I was surprised with my fighting skills. I've never fought before in my life, except when I was being beat up on in school by Demeetry and his gang.

Then, Taffial's swings got so much harder than before, and I felt every time he banged it onto my sword, trying to break free from my hands, my sword started to chip.

I was panicking. I couldn't let my sword break! His was so much stronger than mine. So, I looked for the perfect opportunity.

I ran backwards, but unfortunately, into a corner. There was no escape.

Taffial started to laugh at me manically. "AREN'T YOU EVEN GOING TO SAY THAT YOU'RE SORRY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO CORINNE?"

I breathed heavily and started to say, "Listen to me, Taffial. I did not kill Corinne. I'm telling the truth! If only you will just list-!"
"YOU KILLED HER AND I LOVED HER!" he screamed.

I started to snicker.

"YOU? You LOVE Corinne?! Even though she's a human, and you're a creature?! Ha! Why?"

Taffial looked down solemnly and said, "Well. . . . I guess I've never noticed it before, but when I first met her, there was something magnificent, something special about her. . . . Then, despite our differences, I started to like her more and more every time we met. She would always smile, smile such a sweet, gorgeous smile. And her eyes sparkled like emeralds more precious than any other treasure that I've ever found. I then found out that I loved her. . . . AND YOU! YOU KILLED THE ONE I LOVED THE MOST! HOW DARE YOU! I WILL AVENGE HER YOU WHAT YOU DID TO HER!"

He was about to charge, but I looked down and said, "I see." I started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" he asked madly.

I just looked up at him and said with a smile, "How could Corinne love you back? Have you ever thought of that? Let me tell you something. YOU are a CREATURE. An ugly Mipedian who can't do anything besides look at OLD, BORING things. And, Corinne is a HUMAN, one that WOULD NEVER, EVER LOVE YOU."

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he charged so fast that I was barely able to block his attack.

Then, I felt something come at me. Rocks!

I tried to dodge them. I broke free of Taffial's sword, and I ran. He took another swipe but missed.

I forgot that he had the element of Earth. How am I supposed to block his attacks now?! I kept running until I had an idea.

I sprinted towards the desk where Taffial put the dagger. I took it, and started for the staircase. This HAD to work. It just HAD to. If I was going to live, to reason with Taffial, and most importantly, find out who Adalard was.

Taffial was making a few rock waves here and there, but I luckily dodged them both, and jumped onto one of the rocks and leaped, reaching with all of my might for the staircase.

"VINE SNARE!" Taffial yelled as I felt my leg being pulled towards the ground. I felt a whiplash and plunged into the cement floor. Most likely I sprained my ankle, but I had to get up and fight him. But I couldn't. I was too weak.

"Now," Taffial said as he walked towards me, "Any last words?"

My arms pushed me up back into an upright position, and saw blood continually dropping onto the white concrete. I wiped it away from my nose. But the blood was still dripping. I could feel it coming from my forehead running down my face.

I looked up at him and said with all my force, "I. . . . I. . . . did. . . . not. . . . kill. . . . Corinne. . . . . y-you hear. . . . did not. . . ."
And I grabbed the sword and threw it with all my force towards Taffial.

"You missed," he said.

I couldn't give up. I wanted to live. To live for Mitsu, to live for Odille, to live for Corinne.

I looked down and saw the dagger. I saw my reflection. I was in love with a creature. Odille. I knew how it felt. Even though we're different, from different worlds, we're still the same.

I looked up at Taffial with determination. He was still looking at me gravely and yet normally.

I understood him, and I felt sorry for what I said to him. I picked up the dagger, and threw it with all of my might, all of my strength, and all of my spirit.

"Wha-!" yelled Taffial as the dagger pierced him in the back of his hand, and his sword fell to the ground.

He started to yell and holler as he tried to yank out the dagger and heal his wound. Even though it was small, it let out a lot of blood, which dripped onto the floor like mine did.

I pushed myself up, and staggered towards him. He was still screaming. I wondered how much it hurt.

I picked up my sword and aimed it towards him. He looked toward his sword nervously. It was about a few feet away.

I won.

He laid there on the floor, looking up, frightened.

"I did not kill Corinne," I repeated. "I am not the type of person who would kill their best friend for no reason. I was telling you the truth. We both went into the castle, and Odille killed her. Odille let me live because. . . . I love her. And I know how you feel Taffial. So, I am sorry for what I said to you earlier. I wouldn't like it if someone said that to me about Odille. I, even I don't know if Odille loves me back, but I love her. That's all that counts."

I picked up the dagger, and walked to Taffial's sword and picked that up too. And Taffial looked to the ground solemnly, and he started to weep.

I tried to get him to understand me. I told him, "Taffial. I am sad too. How do you think I felt when I saw Corinne dead before my eyes? She was my friend too. And why do I love the one who killed my friend? It's because. . . . because. . . . ." I didn't know why.

Taffial wiped away his tear, while leaving the other one to run down his face. "You didn't kill her?" he asked.

"No," I answered. I understood how he felt right now. He was full of sadness. Remembering that the one you love the most had died, trying to avenge them, but lost.

After a long silence, he looked up again and said to me, "I believe you. And I'm sorry."

I forgave him, and he said,"Here," and took out my blue scanner. "You can port back now. The doors will be covered for a while. I'm fine. I can survive longer than you."

"But I came here for a reason," I told him.

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Well, I need you to tell me about a creature named Adalard. If you tell me, I will help you with your injuries."

He felt relieved, but asked me, "Aren't you going to kill me? In since I tried to kill you?"

"No. You do not deserve to be killed. You tried to avenge the one you loved. That's truly noble." I told him as I walked toward the desk to look for some sort of band-aid.

I walked?

I must have healed or something, because now all of a sudden I could walk again. It was weird. . . .

I found some gauze in one drawer of the desk luckily, or what I thought to be gauze. I went to Taffial, helped him up, and he said he could heal himself so I just gave him the gauze.

Then, he told me, "Wait right here!" And went upstairs. I sat on a couch next to the desk. Taffial came back down with a large grey book that had bizarre symbols on it. He opened it and flipped through the pages. When he found what he was looking for, he said, "Here it is! Adalard: A son of the Overworld leader whose name is unknown. Expert artist and fighter."

"And?" I asked.

"And that's it," he said as he closed the book. "That's all I know. Sorry."

"That's ok. And, Taffial?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks," I said as I was enveloped in blue numbers and letters.