Tony: Hey, I'm back again! So, how did everyone like last chapter? Boring, right? Well, I wouldn't know, seeing as how practically NO ONE is reviewing… So disheartening…

Ahem, on another note… Big thanks to guest reviewer Magic tales 123! And another huge thanks to DAve and Bob for the continued support (via PM this chapter)!

So, since I'm afraid I still don't have any rights to Tales of the Abyss…

Enjoy the chapter! (And please don't forget to review on the way out…)

Chapter Ten

Not a Child

(Sirris's POV)

Normally, when someone wakes up after being asleep for a long period of time, they will stretch, open their eyes, yawn, and do other such things.

I growled. No movement, no opening of the eyes, just a long, low growl that elicited a surprised squeak from that damn replica's pet cheagle.

"Nice to know that you're awake," a rather sarcastic voice said. I growled again, more out of frustration than anything else.

"Why the hell are you still here, Jade?" I asked without bothering to open my eyes. After a few moments without receiving a response, I sighed and sat up, looking around and noting that I was still onboard the Tartarus.

"We were going to leave you in Yulia City, but Luke requested that you be brought with us," he answered. I took a deep breath, feeling my lungs expand further than they had for a while.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Four and a half days, give or take a few hours, since we're not quite sure when you fell asleep," he answered. Then my hatred of the man got the better of me and I swung my legs out of the bed and stood up, walking right past him. "Luke was comatose for a few hours as well," he added, stopping me in my tracks. "I honestly didn't think you of all people would give him isomin. Does he even know?"

I sighed. "About the isomin? No. But he knows I've been slipping something into his food and what it's doing to his body. I gave him the choice to keep going or stop a week in," I answered quietly. Jade stepped closer to me, a dangerous move on his part.

"You should probably tell him," he suggested. I scoffed.

"Whenever did you earn the right to tell me what to do?" I asked. I stepped out of the cabin then, ignoring him as I went. I was about halfway up to the deck of the Tartarus when the replica stepped out of a room and knocked me over. Then I corrected myself, as the actual replica stepped out of the room behind Asch. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, sorry, Sirris. Hey, are you feeling okay?" Asch asked. I shot a glare at both of them, not in the mood to deal with anyone with Fabre genes at the moment. Actually, I wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone, period.

I found my way up onto the maintenance deck and sat there, legs hung over the edge. We were back in the Outer Lands, though I wasn't sure how they had managed to get the Tartarus back up. I'd have to ask the replica about it later, when I wasn't in quite a mood.

Roran would be pissed. By now I was certain that he had started looking for me… Which meant talking to Nephry and finding out about the replica… which meant even more trouble for me once I was found. I guess I could always give in and go with the option I'd scorned since childhood…

'No!' my thoughts screamed at me. I sighed. My only way to truly get away from Roran now was to admit to a truth I had long since scoffed at and pushed away. And who knew what Roran would say about the replica? He'd probably order me to kill it… not that I'd be too much against it. The idiot was annoying, and while I admired his enthusiasm, I didn't like the constant reminder of my past walking around with me, whether he was the real thing or not.

I bit my lip and shut my eyes, letting the wind carry away all of the stress that had been building up in my body. A few moments later, I opened my eyes and pulled the hat I had been wearing off, letting my blood-red hair wave around in the wind. It was growing quickly; the short cut from the Fabre manor hadn't lasted long. Then again, it never did. I'd trimmed my bangs a bit so they wouldn't be in the way, but the rest of my hair was already touching my shoulders again.

I leaned back and looked up at the sky, looking for shapes in the clouds floating by. I was trying to get my mind off the problem at hand, but no matter what I did, I kept coming back to Roran.

"You look like you could use some company," a quiet but male voice interrupted my wild imagination, which had decided to shed some fake light on what might happen when my uncle found me.

I looked off to the side and saw Guy walking over to me. I raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have a phobia of females?" I asked him. He laughed nervously.

"Yeah, well… You do a pretty good job at passing off as a boy. I figure if my phobia kicks in, I'll just think of Soren and work with that," he told me. I smiled a little.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" I asked quietly, not really intending for him to hear me.

"You barely know me," Guy said. I sighed and looked back up at the sky.

"You would never had met me like this if that lying bastard hadn't told him where I was," I replied. Guy didn't say anything for a while.

"You know… I feel like I've met you before. Like, before you tried to kill Luke. Did we run into each other before that?" he asked. I settled onto my back, one leg still dangling over the edge, the other raised up, knee pointing to the sky.

"It wasn't me back then. It was before I became Nightshade," I answered, the dark undertone my voice prompting him to stop asking questions. I was grateful for his company though. Thinking about him kept my mind off of Roran. But thoughts about Guy led to thoughts about Asch, whom I didn't want to think about. So instead, I thought about Natalia.

That didn't last long either, and after a while, I gave up thinking altogether and got up. Guy noticed and stood as well, following me over to the ladder.

"Hey. If you ever need to talk, I'll be here, alright? I'm not sure what happened with you and Jade, and I don't know why you're so bitter in regards to Luke and Asch, but I'm willing to listen," he told me once we were on the deck again. I couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Guy," I said quietly before walking away. I didn't make it far before the replica shot past me though. He yelled a greeting over his shoulder and continued on his way, and I smirked, deciding to take a page from his book for once.

I don't think Jade was expecting the two of us to walk onto the bridge sweating and, in the replica's case, panting, but he shrugged it off and went back to giving out orders to everyone. It seemed that we were docking in Port Belkend. Why, I wasn't entirely sure, but I decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to put the replica's training to the test.

Once we stepped into the port, I got in front of Asch and stopped, resulting in him stopping to avoid running into me and everyone else stopping just because.

"Now what?" he grumbled. I crossed my arms.

"Your replica and I have something else to do right now. Contact him before you leave Belkend. We'll be waiting here when you get back," I ordered him. He opened his mouth to argue, then seemed to think better of it.

"Tch. Fine. But you'd better be back here before we leave or we'll leave you behind," he told me. I rolled my eyes.

"Just don't forget to contact him," I grumbled back. Then I took off, the replica right behind me. I led him straight to the Inista Marsh. The monsters there were strong. Not nearly as strong as those around Keterburg, but stronger than a lot of the monsters on the continent. Plus there was the behemoth, though I didn't feel like fighting with that today.

"So, what are we doing in the marsh?" the replica asked as I knelt to get some pollen from the flowers near the bridge.

Now armed with rafflesia pollen, I walked over to the redhead. "Don't stray too far. There's a monster in here called the behemoth. It's huge and really tough. I picked up some rafflesia pollen in case it tries to attack us, but hopefully it'll stay away," I told him. He scratched his head.

"Wait, why pollen?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"It's probably some kind of allergy or something," I told him. "Now, as you've probably already figured out, it's not quite as easy to move here as on dry ground. That, plus the monsters here are the strongest on the continent. Pretty good place to train, especially if you have to make midnight runs from Baticul to Belkend."

The replica looked down and scowled at the mud that was trying to pull him in and managed to detach himself from it. "So basically you're sending me in here to kill monsters," he stated. I nodded.

"Yup. And I'll keep the behemoth away. He doesn't like me," I replied. The replica shook his head and started running, and I followed him, watching and commenting as he fought each monster.

In the end, I only had to chase the behemoth away twice. Asch had apparently remembered that he was supposed to contact his replica before leaving Belkend (one of the others had probably reminded him), and the two of us took off running out of the marsh and back to the port. Luke was covered in mud and was thoroughly soaked, and I wasn't much better… Although at least I only had mud on my lower legs.

We were sitting on the dock with our legs dangling into the water when the group walked up to us. "Luke, you're covered in mud!" Tear cried. I smiled and laughed a little, in a good mood after watching the replica mud-wrestle with a rather stubborn toad-like monster.

"And Sirris is soaked," Natalia added. Jade looked back and forth between us, a rather bewildered look on his face.

"What in the name of Lorelei were you two doing?" he asked. I couldn't help but laugh harder at the look on his face. As much as I hated the man, he looked rather strange when he wasn't wearing his calm and confident mask.

"Luke was mud-wrestling with an overly large toad while I watched," I answered, smiled never leaving my face. Asch crossed his arms, expression somewhere between embarrassment and frustration.

"You're the one that took my sword," the replica grumbled at me. I just broke into another fit of laughter.

"You were supposed to kill the thing, not capture it," I shot back. I think that was about the point where everyone else decided to stop asking questions. "Come on, there should be showers onboard the Tartarus," I told him, standing up and following Asch onboard. The replica sighed and followed after me, choosing to stay silent. Probably to avoid any more teasing.

(3rd Person POV)

Jade wasn't quite sure what to think. He'd seen a side of Sirris that she'd never revealed before, a happy, playful side, even if it was a little sadistic. He was forced to remind himself that she was, in fact, still a child, despite all that she had done in her short life, and he supposed that it was a good thing that she wasn't completely ruthless as many believed her to be.

But he still found himself wondering. He knew that he should be more focused on the task in front of him, but as he was doing little in the actual steering of the landship and there wasn't much else to be done, he let his thoughts wander a little. Sirris had reverted back to what they had come to know as her normal self; cold and independent. Although, Jade noted, Sirris was always the first person Luke turned to when he had a question.

'Luke is only seven years old, after all. It's likely he's begun to look up to Sirris as an older sister,' he mused. Then he spotted the cave they were headed for and got back to business, directing them into the cave and docking.

As they stepped off the landship, Anise groaned. "The air is so moist," she grumbled. Ion looked around.

"It's probably because of the sea breeze," he told her. Sirris was silently looking around the area, and Jade noted that she wasn't wearing the same outfit she had been wearing for the last few weeks. A simple gray top with a single strap over her right shoulder and light brown pants replaced the brown dress and gray pants he had become accustomed to. Luke was still in the same black, blue, and silver coat he had been in earlier, or at least it looked the same. At least it wasn't covered in mud. The two of them stayed a little apart from the rest of the group.

"So, why are we here again?" Luke asked. Jade sighed.

"It seems that Van is doing replica research at the Fon Machine Lab 1 in Belkend. They've been getting fonimin from here," the colonel answered. Luke nodded without another word, surprising Jade slightly. Then he sighed. Traveling with Sirris had forced him to grow up fast, he realized.

Then he realized how far ahead Natalia had gotten. "Natalia, slow down. It's dangerous to stray so far from the group," he called, too late. Three monsters, unfamiliar monsters, his brain added, had noticed and attacked her. Asch, Luke, and Sirris dove forward as one, each killing one of the monsters before it could reach her.

"Asch… Luke… Sirris… thank you," Natalia whispered as Luke and Asch sheathed their swords. Sirris had taken the third monster out with a few well-aimed punches. Asch rolled his eyes.

"That's why we stay together… By the way Jade, do you recognize them?" he asked. Sirris scoffed from where she was examining the body of the monster she'd killed.

"Biology is not exactly my specialty. Why don't you ask Sirris?" he replied. Asch turned to the younger redhead in surprise, finding that she was poking the dead monster with an ill-disguised fascination that scared most of the group around her.

"Um…" was all Asch got out before Sirris stood up and kicked the monster, causing it to join its fellows in the process of fonon separation.

"We'll have trouble if these guys are part of a colony. Anclopolyps don't take kindly to their polyps being killed," she said. The entire group looked at her in confusion, and she sighed. "Polyps tend to form colonies centered around Anclopolyps, much like how liger packs are formed around a queen. Anclopolyps become extremely protective of their polyps, and will even kill another Anclopolyp if so much as one is killed. We killed three… If they were part of a colony, it's likely we'll have to deal with the Anclopolyp eventually."

Jade sighed. "That is why I suggested asking her. While biology isn't either of our specialties, she knows quite a bit about monsters. Especially poisonous ones," he said.

"Come on. Let's get this done quickly. I'd like to avoid a confrontation with an Anclopolyp if necessary," Sirris grumbled. Tear nodded and followed her further into the cavern, and the rest of the group followed moments later.

After almost an hour of wandering around, they found themselves at a dead end in what appeared to be a replica facility. Most of the group headed over to the computer, but Sirris and Luke headed back the way they had come. Sirris stopped and looked at another part of the cavern after a while, and Luke noticed and walked back over to her.

"Well, now what?" he asked. Sirris sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know," she replied. The two of them simply stood in that general area in silence for many minutes before the others joined them. Sirris noted the uncomfortable look on Asch's face, but didn't comment. The two of them simply fell in with the group as they made their way back to the Tartarus.

"We're dropping Anise, Ion, and Tear off in Daath," Asch informed them as they approached an open area. Sirris paid little attention to him, however, as they walked past an area of water. She stopped and walked over to the edge of the rock and peered into the murky water. "Sirris?" Asch asked when he noticed that she had stopped.

Sirris's eyes, which had been narrowed in concentration, flew wide open as she jumped back. "Watch out!" she yelled, still in mid-air. Seconds later, a large monster popped out of the water. Asch, Natalia, Luke, and Guy already had their weapons out, while Ion got out of the way. Anise, Tear, and Jade started casting, while Sirris growled. "That, ladies and gentlemen, is an Anclopolyp," she grumbled. Then she ran forward to start attacking the thing, which had climbed out of the water and was now moving toward the fonists in the back.

Sirris, after thinking back over what little information she remembered about the Anclopolyp, stopped and started casting. "O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through… Thunder Blade!" she chanted, letting the arte loose on the unsuspecting monster. Then she ran forward to hold the monster off while Natalia ran back to cast a healing arte.

It landed inside of the light FOF that Anise's Limited had caused and Heal became Healing Wind. The arte should have healed all four of the melee fighters, but Sirris frowned. Jade had been right. Luke's wounds, though not very serious, barely responded to the healing arte. Hers didn't heal at all, but she had been expecting that.

Apparently Natalia had noticed that as well, because she sent another Heal toward Luke, and Sirris smiled as his wounds sealed up. Though a simple First Aid should have been enough to do that, she was somewhat glad that he could still be healed for the time being.

The Anclopolyp, sick of being beaten up on constantly, sent out a few polyps to distract them while it retreated into its shell. "Ignore the polyps and get that damn shell open!" Sirris yelled, retreating to cast Thunder Blade again. Her arte landed just before Jade's did, causing his little Flame Burst to become Explosion, which was the point where the Anclopolyp reopened his shell to blow bubbles at them.

Painful bubbles, as Luke quickly figured out, retreating a ways to assess his injuries and the others on the battlefield. Then he charged over to one of the polyps while telling Natalia to keep healing, as the smaller monster had attacked her. The blonde nodded thankfully and ran off a ways to cast Heal again. Sirris sent another Thunder Blade toward one of the other polyps, regretfully not killing it.

Luke finished the first of the three polyps and ran straight over to the wind FOF, but before he could use it himself, Natalia used it for Healing Wind. The redhead smiled as his body recovered and happily threw himself into the next task.

Once the three polyps were killed and all attention was back on the Anclopolyp, it didn't take them long to finish it. Finally, the large, aquatic monster fell. Jade wasn't too surprised when Sirris pulled out a vial and walked over to it, taking some of its blood before its fonons began separating, though most of the others were unnerved at the least.

Sirris stood and slipped the little vial into her pocket. "Okay. Time to go," she said simply, walking off a ways. Asch and the others stared after her for a moment before following. Luke, it seemed, was digging around for something in his bag. Tear walked over to him and crossed her arms.

"What are you looking for?" she asked. Luke looked up at her for a moment, but went back to rummaging before pulling out a small, red gel and swallowing it. "An Apple Gel? You were wounded?" she wondered. Luke nodded.

"I didn't want to bother you or Natalia," he told her. "Though I should probably go through my bag and reorganize it…" he added quietly to himself a little later. Sirris rolled her eyes at the exchange.

The group had just reached the edge of the cavern when the earthquake hit. Sirris and Luke dropped to one knee while the others did their best to stay standing. Tear and Natalia lost their balance, and Luke stood again to catch the melodist while Asch caught Natalia.

Once the earthquake had passed, Sirris sighed. "That was probably Southern Rugnica falling. It's about time," she muttered. Asch and Luke looked grave.

"Dammit… If we're not careful, St. Binah will be next," the replica said. Ion and Tear looked around, and it seemed that they weren't the only ones confused.

"You three seem to be rather informed about the situation," Jade commented. Asch scowled.

"I've been trying to figure out what Van's up to for a while now," he informed the colonel. "But… why…?" he trailed off, looking at Luke. The replica turned to Sirris, and the female redhead crossed her arms.

"Roran's been looking into Van's movements as well. The Sephiroth, the attack on the Tartarus… and Akzeriuth… most of it relates back to him. Although Asch ordered Choral Castle," she said, raising an eyebrow at the redhead in question after the last part of her comment.

"Do I even want to know why?" Jade asked. Sirris shrugged.

"How would I know? All I ever find out from him is what's left in the files he gives me, plus what I read between picking them up and getting home. And as I'm sure you're aware, reading is not my favorite pastime," she replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you didn't like reading if it didn't involve monsters," the colonel said, though it was hard to tell if he was teasing or not. Sirris scowled.

"Shut up, asshole," she ordered, boarding the Tartarus. Asch and Luke exchanged a look, seemingly agreeing on something for once.

"She's in a pleasant mood," Guy said. Luke sighed.

"No. It's just Jade's fault," he told his friend before following Sirris. Jade feigned a hurt look.

"Luke, how rude to brush the blame off onto someone else's shoulders," he teased. But Luke tensed up and stopped, then turned around.

"I have enough blame on my shoulders right now. The least you can do is take what little bit you're actually responsible for," he said, voice somber. Then he left, following Sirris onto the Tartarus, and Jade was effectively silenced for the next few minutes while the group got in and prepared to leave.

"I want you to take me and Ion back to Daath," Anise informed Jade. The colonel nodded.

"Alright. We'll stop at Daath first, and then… Keterburg?" he asked, directing his inquiry to Sirris. The redhead nodded.

"Yeah… I'm in for it now for sure, but if nothing else…" she muttered, trailing off. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Alright then. Let's get going," he suggested.

"Dammit Luke, quit!" Sirris yelled as she slashed through a fish-like monster in irritation. The other redhead flinched.

"It's stuck in my head," he whined. Sirris scowled.

"Well now you've got it stuck in mine. Happy?" she grumbled back. Luke chuckled nervously, not really wanting to incur her wrath. The two didn't make it very far before another duo caught up to them.

"Just a quick question? Whose idea was it to send the two of you, who are the faster fighters, together? This is a really unfair race," Guy asked, a teasing note in his voice. Sirris chuckled.

"I figured that if you were with Tear, she could heal you, since neither of us can heal… or really be healed, for that matter," she explained. "After all, what's that saying? Slow and steady wins the race?"

Luke and Guy laughed, and even Tear cracked a smile. Guy stopped for a moment. "You know, Sirris. You're actually pretty nice when you're not pissed off or on business," the blonde said. Sirris turned to look at him, and the look on her face became a barely-noticeable one of nostalgia.

"Thanks, Guy. I missed this," she told him, confusing her three companions. She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Come on, let's go," she grumbled.

A few minutes later, she froze in her tracks and turned to glare at Luke, who was humming once again. The taller redhead trailed off mid-note, fear obvious in his eyes. "Um… Wasn't that the song that boy in the port was singing?" Tear asked. Luke nodded.

"It's stuck in my head, and I don't even remember half of the lyrics," he told her. Sirris growled and marched off, further into the caverns.

Almost an hour later, Luke was starting to fidget. "You don't think they left us, do you?" he asked. Sirris crossed her arms.

"I doubt it, but let's head to Daath Bay just in case. If the Tartarus is still there, we'll head down the road to Daath. We've been out here for almost three hours now, and it took us at least half an hour to get here," she thought out loud. Tear and Guy nodded.

"Great. You know the way back to the entrance, right?" the blonde swordsman asked. Sirris rolled her eyes, amusement flashing through them.

"Come on, Mister Can't-Find-North-When-Underground," she muttered. Guy started and stared after her in surprise as she walked away.

"Guy? What is it?" Luke asked, noticing the shocked look on his friend's face. Guy looked over at him and shook his head.

"It's nothing. Probably just my memory playing tricks on me," he replied. Luke crossed his arms, but followed Sirris without pushing the matter too much.

As the four of them emerged from the caverns, they found themselves being approached by an out-of-breath Jade. Sirris raised an eyebrow, not even bothering to glare at the man as her curiosity won out over her hatred of him. "Okay… Someone get me a piece of paper so I can write down this list of weird occurrences," she joked.

Jade rolled his eyes at her comment. "Kimlasca has already begun making preparations for war because of Natalia and Asch's supposed deaths. The two of them and Ion were captured upon entering the cathedral in Daath, where Ion had intended to issue a proclamation," he explained. "Anise is scouting out the situation in Daath right now. I came here to get your help."

Sirris's scowl fell back into place, accompanied by her trademark 'Jade glare.' Tear, Guy, and Luke however, nodded. "Alright, let's get going then," Guy suggested. They walked at first, because Jade was still slightly out-of-breath, but by the time they reached the bridge between Daath and the bay, they were running again.

They stopped outside Daath on Fourth Monument Hill. "So, that's Daath?" Luke wondered. Guy nodded.

"Yep. Ion, Natalia, and Asch are probably being held inside the cathedral," the other swordsman replied. Then he glanced over at Sirris and did a momentary double-take. Her blood-red hair had been covered by the same blonde wig she had worn as Aerys, and her eyes were quickly turning violet. She turned to them and smiled, shifting her weight onto her left foot.

"Wow… That's kinda creepy," Luke muttered. Sirris giggled, a sound that none of them had heard from her.

"Well, I figured that since you guys have been with Aerys before, you'd be less likely to screw up and call me Sirris if I wore this," she said, her voice lighter. Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Very well then, Aerys. Shall we be going?" he asked. 'Aerys' nodded, and the five of them headed down the hill. The dagger that was almost always hanging faithfully at Sirris's waist had been removed and slipped into the hidden sheath in her boot when no one was looking, while its normal sheath was hidden in her bag.

The group walked through the streets of Daath quietly, finally coming to a stop in front of the cathedral. "So they're in there?" Luke asked. Then a small girl with dark pigtails came running up to them.

"Hey! Glad you guys could… Aerys? But, I thought…" Anise left off. 'Aerys' giggled again.

"I'm in disguise," she explained. Anise frowned.

"I guess that makes sense… Oh, Ion and Natalia are being held in Oracle Knights Headquarters below the cathedral," she said. Luke frowned.

"Where's Asch?" he asked. Anise sighed.

"I'm not sure. No one seems to know exactly where he is, but I think he's been locked in the dungeons underneath headquarters," she said, expression grave. "All I know for sure is that if we don't find him in the next couple of days, he'll be executed for treason against the Order of Lorelei."

'Aerys' slipped into a distinctly Sirris stance to think. "I'll go find Asch then. The rest of you focus on Natalia and Ion," she decided, not even bothering to hide her voice. Jade and Guy looked at her in concern.

"Sir-Aerys… Are you sure?" Guy questioned her. Sirris nodded, determination in her eyes.

"Yeah. I did just fine on my own for seven years, I shouldn't have any problems alone for a few hours… or days, if it takes me that long," she told them. Then she turned to Luke. "If you have to leave Daath without me and Asch, then do so. You know where I'll come to find you," she told him. Luke nodded, and Jade sighed.

"Well, it seems that's taken care of then. Sirris… take care," he said. Sirris glared at him, her violet eyes flashing green and startling Guy again.

"Fuck off, bastard," she spat, walking up the steps to the cathedral, somehow managing to keep a light step. Luke and Anise stared after her, slightly amazed.

"Wow, Colonel. She really hates you, doesn't she?" Anise muttered. Jade sighed.

"I'm afraid that all of that hatred is well-deserved," he told her.

Tony: Okay, so I want to know.

Why does Sirris hate Jade so badly?

Seriously. I've dropped you all plenty of hints. At least guess. You've got this chapter and the next to do so before it all comes out. Anyone wanna try and figure out who drops the bomb on everyone? Because I will be more than happy to hear all about your theories… Just please review!

Kairi: -pops in and whispers something in Tony's ear-

Tony: …hmm… Now get out. –kicks Kairi out- Okay, I made up my mind. I'll update next chapter on schedule, but I won't update the chapter after that (Twelve… Reckoning) until the review count hits 20. We're currently at 13. –smiles- I shall see you all next week then. –poofs-