Sparks in the Darkness

by Rubrinna

Some people run and fight what fate has handed to them, some cut their own path regardless of fate, while others just give up and despair, I'm one of the latter, but even though fate is cruel it has left me sparks of hope.

10. Ugh, are you kidding me!

I'm back and with an even longer chapter! Woot, we've hit double digits! XD Yeah anyway just to warn you all this chapter gets pretty angsty. Especially when she has a flash back by the way I will put this warning up here and right before this scene but there is implied rape. I hated writing that scene I didn't even go into detail and still I wanted to cry while writing it but I couldn't because my roommate and her freinds were in the room... and yeah I am never writing any scene like that ever again! I felt absolutely disgusted with myself for writing that. T.T *goes into emo corner to cry*

Review neko\kitty: *rubs Rubrinna's back* I'll be taking over this author's note for now, Rubrinna would like you all to know that she appreciates and loves the reviews she gets, especially ones that ask questions! *gives Zoeten Needles of Rain, azure blue espeon and DanteShindo cookies* DanteShindo also gets cake for reviewing last chapter as well as guessing the mysterious man correctly which is... well you'll see. Just to warn you guys Katherine will be cursing quite a bit in this chapter. Read and review please~!

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"Why are you holding your arms like that for? It's not that cold!" asks George, as I try to keep my body heat.

"It's not my fault that I'm anemic!" I whine, George just rolls his eyes at me. "Where are we going anyway?" I ask while rubbing my arms to get rid of the goose bumps I feel forming on my arms. Why is it so freaking cold! I liked it better outside, it was warm!

"Well, we need to go and report how our mission went, besides there's someone who would like to see you," answers Botta. I look at him confused, who would want to see me, besides you? Said person is trying to smother a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" I ask, kinda annoyed at being laughed at. Unfortunately I don't get an answer because we arrive at our destination, Botta knocks on the door, he then takes out a card of some sort and swipes it. The door opens and we all enter, in the office there is a desk, and a red carpet (at least that I can see).

"How was your mission Botta?" asks a voice, I can't see whose speaking because everyone is in my way. Why is it that I'm stuck behind all the tall people for? I want to see whose speaking, damn it they sound familiar!

"It was successful, Lord Yuan. We did see the chosen's group while there, unfortunately Kratos was with them." Answers Botta, oh so we're in Lord Yuan's office no wonder his voice sounded familiar. Who's Kratos and why does his name seem familiar?

"I don't expect you to try and take on Kratos with just the three of you. What took you so long to report back, you were expected back three days ago," asks Lord Yuan.

"If I may speak Lord Yuan?" asks James, there is a pause then: "We had accomplished our primary goals of retrieving exspheres and inputting a virus on the ranch's system, we also managed to accomplish our secondary goal."

"So you found her." Says Lord Yuan, everyone nods in conferment; I look between the three of their backs in confusion, trying to figure what they're talking about.

"Who are you talking about?" I ask, this of course gets everyone to turn and look at me. And for like the fourth time today an awkward silence! I must have a record by now for the most awkward silences ever caused by one person.

"You've gotten bigger, since I last saw you Katherine." Says Lord Yuan….

There's a voice saying something but I can't make out what its saying, go away and let me sleep! You're annoying! I turn my head away from it, when has my pillow ever been this warm? It smells funny too… my eyes snap open when I remember that I wasn't in my bed.

"Finally awake there kiddo?" asks a voice coming from above my head, I turn my head to see a smirking George. I try to get up but George pushes me back down:

"Don't even think about it kiddo, whatever happened left a nasty bump on the back of your head." Wait, where am I and how the hell did I get here? The last thing I remember was praying to my ancestors and going into a trance of some sort,… wait there was someone else with me in the prayer chamber! The guy with the shackles knocked me out! I'm going to hurt that bastard when I find him!

"Hey, hey don't get too mad at yourself for whatever happened." I look at him with confusion, why would I be mad at myself for?

"You tend to be very hard on yourself kiddo," says George answering the question in my head.

"But I'm not mad at myself, I'm mad at the bastard who knocked me out!" this statement of course makes George confused, I sigh in exasperation: "Where ever we are I didn't come here by free will, I was in a… safe house I think praying, when some really muscular guy wearing shackles came in and knocked me out." Now George is shaking his head at me:

"We really need to work on your language, kiddo. Well, since you seem to be lucid I think I can let you sit up now." Says George, as he helps me sit up from my position. I finally look around at my surroundings, which appears to be a fairly large cell, with a few beds, no windows though, and of course a set of (probably) locked bars. Okaaaay... we're in a prison… great. I really, really, really don't feel like fighting for my life everyday for the entertainment of a bunch of drunkards and snobby rich people. I turn to George and ask:

"We're coliseum bait aren't we?"

"If you mean that, we're going to have to fight in the coliseum than yes." Answers George, which causes me to groan in annoyance, c'mon really the freaking shackle guy, had to bring me here! George just pats my shoulder and grins:

"Don't worry about it, I've got a plan." I give him a skeptical look, which only makes him grin bigger. And he hasn't used this plan because…? I don't get a chance to get an answer to my thoughts because several pair of armored feet interrupts them. I turn to the "door" of the cell to see several green armored people standing in a formation of some sort, where have I seen the armor before? My thoughts are interrupted as the "door" clanks open and four of the armored people walk into the cell right towards us.

"His eminence wants to speak to you heathens." Says one of the armored people in the cell, George just shrugs insolently, as if this was an everyday thing, this of course doesn't go over well with our 'escorts', a few of them tighten their grips on their weapons. I give George a quick sidelong look, which he returns with a quick wink, before following suit (minus the shrugging of the shoulders.) Our lovely escorts grab our hands and handcuff them behind our backs; they then place their hands on our shoulders and lead us out of the cell. After the other six surround the four from the cell (and us), and they head towards the stairs, once up the stairs, they bring us to a door, down a long hallway. The one closet to the door knocks on it, there's a muffled response, after that they open the door and bring (drag) us in. The door opens to a brightly lit room with a painting on the wall, along with several bookshelves lining the walls, and a desk, behind said desk is a fat man, with brown eyes, a large brown mustache, wearing a tall and pointed gold hat, along with very ornately decorated robe, our escorts ever so kindly shoves us down to our knees, the mustached man looks at us with disdain, before settling his gaze on me:

"Humph, so you're the wench that the Renegades are after." I simply match his gaze with a glare, this causes him to frown.

"Not very polite are you, but then again what else do you expect from mixed breed?" I just breathe in and out very slowly; resist the urge to strangle him, strangling him will just end up leaving you with a very broken body. Don't react to his words; he's just a power hungry fool.

"And what do us 'mixed breeds' owe the pleasure of his eminence's attention?" asks George, smirking at everyone in the room, like this is just a joke. The mustached man's face twists in anger at George's tone; one of the armored people hits George, I wince slightly at the sound while trying to ignore the anger and panic that is rising.

"You will show respect to the Pope of Martel, heathen!" yells one of the armored people nearest to George. Wait, we're in the Pope's office? FUCK! We're not even coliseum bait we're guillotine bait! Ancestors help me, if I get a hold of the bastard that brought me here… My thoughts are interrupted as someone yanks my hair, and jerk back my head to look up at the very annoyed Pope:

"Why are you so important to the Renegades girl?" I glare daggers at 'his eminence' while ignoring the tears forming in my eyes, the Pope leans down with a sneer on his face.

"I can make your life a living hell girl, I can lock you up with scrounge of every make, with nothing more than the clothes on your back. Think about your silence." Is that supposed to be a threat? The next thing I know a metal hand smacks me across the head, causing my ears to ring.

"You will show respect!" says one of the armored people, ow! That hurt you fucking asshole! Ancestors above help me from killing these idiots! I glare at the ground for a minute, allowing my anger to die down before raising my head at my current captors.

"I want an answer this time; why are you important to the Renegades? Why are they using us to find you instead of just finding you on their own?" asks the Pope saying it very slowly like I have trouble understanding him. Well… since my head is probably going to be guillotine meat…, I might as well put on a show. I put on the hugest grin I can muster and in the most annoyingly sweet voice say:

"I don't know why the commanders are after me, your eminence. I'm just kitchen help, … maybe the chef's sick and the food tastes like crap." My remark got me another slap to the head, only this time it was aimed at my face causing me to taste blood.

"Since neither of you want to give me a straight answer, I'll let you rot with the rest of scum, and see if you change your minds after a few months." Says the Pope before waving at the armored people, to drag us out of the office, and back to our cell. Once released of our bonds (more liked pushed out of our bounds), the guards (who I now remember are papal knights), lock the door and leave us alone in the cell. George walks over to the 'door' of the cell and stands there for a few minutes, looking down the hallway, after that he turns away and walks over to me. He then kneels down to my eye level:

"Ok what's going on in that silly little head of yours?"

"Umm… "I answer, ever so intelligently, George sighs at my response (that I really don't even get to finish).

"We aren't going to get the guillotine, or 'rot' here, alright, so don't be getting all depressed and fatalist on me kay?" Says George before flicking me lightly on the head, I stare at him for a minute, before shaking my head at him and rolling my eyes.

"Ok, I know this is out of the blue, but what's up with the dress and bow?" asks George, I sigh and give him a sour look that says 'don't ask'. He raises an eyebrow at me, before shaking his head again:

"Let me guess, they decided that you needed to have a disguise," I nod in response; he sighs before his eyes locks on the necklace around my neck, he grabs and tugs at it. "You pissed off the hidden village somehow didn't you?" I huff in response, while George inspects the necklace some more, while getting a puzzled\annoyed look on his face, after a minute of inspecting it George whistles.

"Whatever you did really ticked them off, this is a serious charm, I'm assuming that they told you not to do something and if you did there'll be consequences." I nod in response, "All right can you tell me what you're not supposedto do?" I sigh before answering:

"Open my big mouth… about… stuff." George raises his eyebrow at me in confusion, which makes me sigh once more. "I kinda told them to bug off and that I knew about their stuff, and yeah..." George closes his eyes and mutters something in Elfin (I think), while shaking his head at the entire thing. He then gets up and motions for me to follow him, where are we going anyways? George walks over to the corner opposite of us, and starts to tap out something, once he finished he put his ear against the wall. After what feels like an hour, (but was probably only twenty minutes) George steps away from the corner of the cell and closes his eyes for a minute before his lips start moving, along with moving his left hand in a pattern. Why is George casting a spell for? Wouldn't they have magic proofed this room considering all the half-elves that they have in the coliseum that sit in here for hours at a time? My thoughts are proven wrong when the corner opens up to reveal a tunnel, … or the Tethe'allans are f**king dumbasses. George just grabs my hand and gently pulls me into the tunnel.

"Why are you dragging me through here? I can walk just fine you know!" I ask, George just rolls his eyes at me.

"Well maybe if you didn't space out so much I wouldn't have to drag you now would I?" I shoot him a glare which he responds to with a smirk. When we reach the end of the tunnel (which was surprisingly lit with fire), George does another spell and the door opens into a smaller cell, which actually has a window (with bars of course), a single bed and someone sitting on the bed away from the setting sunlight. I can't make out their shape completely but there is definitely someone there.

"Oh good, you're here, look I know that I said I wouldn't bother you during the coliseum hours but I've got someone that needs your help." Whispers George, my eyes dart between the figure and George, what the hell is going on, who is this and why are we here? The figure moves so that they're facing us instead of the window, which ends up putting their face in the sunlight. The person, no man has long blue hair with bangs that cover his eyes from view. He gazes at George for a minute, and then move to me, I feel his eyes narrow as his gaze focuses on me. Why does his mana feel familiar…, my thoughts are interrupted as the blue haired man clears his throat:

"I don't think she'll take any help from me."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean she won't take help from you she doesn't even know you!" asks George, the blue haired man simply raises his hands which are bond together by shackles. My eyes widen in surprise, as I recognize the shackles and arms attached to them:

"Y-you! You're the bastard that knocked me unconscious and brought me here! Oh, no, no, no, no, no, noooooo! Forget it George I am not letting him touch me again, I'll heal myself thank you!" I say as I try to turn away but George just grabs a hold of my arm and drags me back next to him.

"Hold on, there kiddo what are you talking about?" asks George, I give him a glare before folding my arms. This of course causes George to block the entrance more, while crossing his arms and giving me a reproving look.

"She is right, I was the one to capture and bring her here." Says the blue haired man, interrupting our little battle of the wills, George turns from me and looks at him.

"Ok now I normally wouldn't go prying into your business Mr. Bryant but who told you to bring her here, and why?" asks George, the blue haired man (whose last name I guess is Bryant) is looking at George as if debating on telling him something. After a minute of silence, I decide to lower my shields to see if I can figure out what the hell the blue haired shackle guy is hiding. As I try to extend my senses out ward the back of my head bursts into pain.

"Ow! Me duele en mi cabeza!... Què usted hizo a mi cabeza? (My head hurts! What did you do to my head?)" I hiss out through the pain, George gently pushes me down until I'm sitting on the ground, he moves my hands away from my head ( I didn't even realize they were there), then he starts feeling my head for something, when he reaches the back of my head I hiss in pain, his hands leave the back of my head. He then guides my head up so that I'm looking in his eyes:

"Look, I want you to explain to me, in this language, what it was that you were doing when your head started to hurt."

"I-I was tr- trying t-to get a-a f-feel f-for th-the b-blue haired guy, when m-my head st-started hurting." I whimper, as I tried to ignore the throbbing in the back of my head. George just makes little soothing sounds as I close my eyes and try to think through the pain so that I can cast a healing spell. After blocking the pain (as much as I can anyway) I start to gather mana to myself, when the pain starts to go away. Wait a minute this isn't my doing, I open my eyes to see a very muscular chest, … that isn't George…, my eyes travel up ward from the muscled chest to see a pair of arms extended over me, my eyes finally stop to see the blue haired man, staring at his hands in concentration, which (I think) are near the back of my head. Why is he so close to me? My body freezes up as I realize how close he is, damn it George why the hell are you letting this guy near me! My body starts to shake, as my heart and lungs start racing at a thousand kilometers an hour, as the fact that this guy has me cornered in a vulnerable position, and I can't see George or feel him because my senses are out of whack because of the bump on my head. I shut my eyes as fear and memories come crashing over me.

(A\N: THIS IS THE IMPLIED RAPESCENE IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE SKIP OVER IT NOW!)

{"Come here you little whore, I'm about to teach you some manners!" yells the Desian as he grabs me and pulls me towards him. I start screaming, and fighting him as he starts trying to tear off my clothes.

"R-regal I'm s-sorry…" whimpers a bleeding short pink haired girl, whose-

"Ka…rine-!" Someone, I think is trying to call my name, but I can barely hear them through the thundering of my heart as I try to repress the terror and confusion of the swirling memories and images.

"I'm sorry Ali-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME! LOS ANTEPASADOS ME AYUDAN! NECESITO LA PROTECCIÓN CONTRA ESTA MONSTURO!(Ancestors help me! I need protection from this monster!)" I scream-}

(A\N: PAST THIS NOTE IT IS SAFE TO READ!)

"Katherine!" My eyes snap open as I feel someone's hands shaking my shoulders; George is giving me a concerned look. I can feel my entire body shuddering as my mind, finally comes back to reality, I open my mouth to say something when George cuts me off by squeezing me into a hug.

"Shh, you're alright, you're alright. No ones going to hurt you, I've got you; I won't leave you, ok? "Whispers George into my ear, while rocking me back and forth, I simply cling to his shoulder while I try to suppress the sobs that are threatening to escape.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to induce that reaction." Says someone, I think it's the blue haired man, but I can't tell right now. I can feel George sigh, while shaking his head:

"It's not your fault, its mine, I knew that she has problems with… being in close quarters with strange men, but I wasn't thinking about that when I brought her here. I forgot that you need to be in close quarters when you heal head injuries." There is a silence after that, the only sound that I can hear is the sound of my heartbeat and George murmuring in what I believe is Elfin, I'm not entirely sure if that's what it is, its been awhile since I last heard it spoken. Between the rocking and murmuring I eventually stop shaking, and my breathing slows down to a normal rate without any hiccups or sobs.

"All right, kiddo I need you to get up now, we need to get back to our spots so our 'friends' don't think we abandoned them." George says quietly in my ear after a few minutes of us sitting there, I look up at him and he gives me a small reassuring smile, after that I let go of his shoulder reluctantly, and he lets me go so that I can get up. George gets up first then helps me to my feet, he then turns to the blue haired man:

"Thank you for helping her, even though she didn't want it, and was trying to do it on her own." The blue haired simply nods at George, before fixing his gaze on me, which is surprisingly full of remorse.

"I'm sorry for being the catalyst of your reaction." Says the blue haired, before bowing at me, I stare at him in utter confusion for a minute trying to figure out why I get the feeling that those images of a pink haired girl coved in blood came from him, while I was flashing back, at least I was before George decided to guide me back through the tunnel. Once we are on the other side of the tunnel George closes it. He then sits down at the corner and pats the ground next to him, I walk over and sit where he indicated. Once I'm seated George gently leans me back so my head is laying against his shoulder\chest area, I close my eyes , as my muscles relax when his arm wraps around me.

"Try and get some sleep, little love, I'll protect you." Murmurs George as he kisses the top of my head in reassurance.

---

I stare at Lord Yuan with disbelief, you haven't seen me in three years, and you knew I was in the human ranch and the first thing you say is 'you've gotten bigger.' Really are you kidding me?

"Aren't you freezing in that?" asks Lord Yuan while raising an eyebrow at me and disrupting my thoughts. I look down and quickly cross my arms across my chest as I realized how much skin this stupid thing exposes, while trying to ignore the heat of my face right now. Why the hell did I forget to ask Dirk for extra clothing for! Stupid slutastic outfit, whoever came up with these uniforms is a freaking hornball!

"I'm umm…" I mumble as the heat of my blush intensifies, can I disappear now? The floor becomes very interesting as Lord Yuan continues to look at me. The next thing I know someone is wrapping something around me, I look up to see Lord Yuan leaning forward slightly in front of me giving a small smile.

"That's better isn't it," says Lord Yuan while patting my head, "It's good to see you again mi pequeña sobrina. (My little niece)"

The sound of clanking metal, slamming doors and the click of armored feet awaken me again, as they have been waking me up for the past ten weeks. I open my eyes, and sit up, well as best I can anyway George is kind of in my way(again), I sigh and start to shake him awake before he's kicked awake by the guards. After a minute of shaking him and getting no response I lower myself so that my mouth is centimeters away from his ear.

"Oh George~" I whisper as I start to poke him in the stomach, which causes him to start moving slightly, "Wakey wakey, eggs and bacy!" George groans before muttering something about flying eggs, growling ketchup and jumping bacon, okaaaay then, what the hell was he doing after I went to bed?... Ugh, woman stop being distracted by non-sense talk and wake his sorry ass up! I shake my head, before continuing on with my mission of waking George before the guards decide to do so. I stop to scratch at the stupid polycarbonate 'bracelets' around my wrists, before continuing with the poking\shaking, after a few minutes of him muttering utter non-sense I decide to just cover his mouth and nose. George's eyes snap open and he bolts right up throwing me off the bed, and gets into a defensive position, his eyes scan the room looking for a threat. After finding no threat his stance relaxes, he then looks down at me as I try to get up, from my uncomfortable position on the floor.

"What are you doing down there kiddo?" asks George as he helps me up, ow…, my back... ugh what I'd do to have some pain killers. I grunt in pain as I'm helped up to a standing position, George gives me a concerned look.

"I'm fine; really I just landed on my back when you finally got up." George just snorts at my answer before rolling his shoulders and neck to get out some of the kinks.

"Ready for another fun day at the coliseum," I just roll my eyes at him as we walk over to the side of the cell as the guards come over with our 'weapons.' Most of these weapons are fairly blunt, while our 'opponents' get to use nice sharp and pointy ones , anyway a guard hands me my weapon of the day which surprisingly is a blunted racket, instead of the spear I usually get. Alright, a weapon I actually know how to use, though it definitely isn't as dangerous as my old one. What I would do to have my old one back, it may have been used but at least it had sharp points and was better cared for than this. I take the racket while sighing at my own thoughts, and walk over to the wall where everyone else is standing. Once everyone was lined up, the guards read off the groups or 'lots':

"Prisoners R. 25 R. 29 and D. 16 are in lot 15, you will report to entrance 7." Said the guard holding the clip board with all the lots on it. Great so basically me, George and someone else, I wonder who it is? It isn't anyone in this cell, that's for sure we're all 'prisoner R something.' I just follow George as we are grabbed by guards, and 'guided' to our entrance, once there the guards opened a door and put us on the other side of the door before closing it behind it. I look to see that the other prisoner is here, sitting on the bench looking towards the door, with a troubled expression on his face, ooookaaaay, why the hell are working with the noble guy for?

"Oy, what's up with the face there? Are you not feeling that hot, if you're not we'd understand," asks George as he walks over to the noble but I'm not paying that much attention, I just sigh and close my eyes while trying to resist the urge to try and escape with a weapon I know how to use. The only thing that would make this better if I knew how to get rid of these freaking bracelets, I swear if I get the chance I'm going kill Rodyle… well maybe kill is the wrong word it should be more like 'maim,' considering that he is a grand cardinal, and I should know from experience that I can't kill one. Stupid purpled haired creepy freak, just because you put on a friggin' business suit doesn't mean I won't recognize you!… When I get the chance-

"Hey kiddo, you paying attention the first bell just rung," asks George interrupting my very bloody thoughts, I look up at him in disbelief.

"You're kidding me right?" I ask, he simply shakes his head at me:

"Yeah it did, and since you weren't paying attention to a single thing I'll sum up everything we got laid down, our friend here." George indicates Mr. Bryant, "we know can heal, and I was explaining that he'll probably be on his own unless those bracelets somehow manage to deactivate themselves. Anyway she has a general hit and run style of fighting unless she gets angry then its just plain aggression, I generally fight head on with well in today's case a friggin' dull knife, though I'd prefer a short sword, so how do you fight since we're not going to be able to cover for you always, besides you couldn't have made it in here without some sort of defense."

"I specialize in martial arts using my feet." I can feel my eyes widen in surprise as I look down towards his feet in reaction, he can fight with just his feet? I guess my thoughts must have shown on my face because George is snorting in an effort to not laugh, while our current 'ally' is looking at me with a slightly (though kinda grim looking) bemused look on his face. I open my mouth to throw a retort at the both of them, when the second warning bell rings, as the 'wall' in front of us opens up to revel a tunnel and thundering cheering (well more like hissing for us,) of the crowd on the other end. Me and George grip our weapons tighter as we start down the tunnel as the final bell rings signaling it is time, hopefully there aren't any lightning mages today, stupid bracelets only sometimes block low level spells. Once we are on the field, George and I get about three meters apart form each other and get into offensive positions, while Mr. Bryant stands behind us in a slightly crouched position. On the other side there are: a long bow's man, what looks and feels like a mage, and a sword fighter. Please don't let the mage specialize in lightning please ancestors! I look over towards George, who motions towards the mage with a stabbing motion and I nod my head 'yes' in response, before we could clue in our ally, the announcer begins the battle and the sword fighter comes rushing in towards us. George runs to meet him while I start running towards the mage who has started casting, in the corner of my eye I see the long bow's man aiming for me, oh like hell are you nailing me with an arrow! As soon as the arrow is released I switch directions.

*thump*

The arrow sinks into the ground to the right of me as I continue to towards the mage while making my path erratic, so the bow's man can't aim at me as easily. As I close in on the mage another arrow is fired towards me, I switch directions again, damn it this would be easier if I could use magic! My wrists burn as the bracelets disrupt the mana I automatically gathered for a long range attack, I ignore the pain as I get closer to the mage-

*Twang*

I look to my right to see an arrow heading right towards me that I can't out run so I drop to the ground, damnit this guy is good! I get back up to continue to the mage when an arrow lands right where I was a second ago. Oh shit that was close, I start running towards the mage again; I can feel that he is getting towards the end of his spell. I hear a whistling sound and look to see an arrow flying towards me, oh crap!

"Bastion!" Apparently I closed my eyes in expectation to be hit because the next thing I know Mr. Bryant is standing in front of me with a dark blue shield surrounding him (mostly).

"Are you alright?" asks the blue haired noble, I gape for a minute before answering:

"Y-yeah I'm fine,… thanks for the save. Hey I don't suppose you could do me a favor and take care of the bow's man so I can get the mage?" The noble simply nods his head yes, before charging at the bow's man, I return my attention on the mage, when all of a sudden the earth below me starts to glow.

"Fury of the earth engulf this pathetic soul! Eruption!" The next thing I know I have fire all around me, I scream out in pain as I'm flung into the air, once gravity takes over again I land on the ground covered in several burns. My whole body trembles in pain as I try to get up, to avoid another spell I know will be coming.

"Healer!" I feel mana pass through me as some of the burns start to heal to the point that I can ignore them somewhat. By the time I get to my feet, the mage is well into another spell, I start running trying to ignore the pain that shoots through my legs (and back) with each step. By the time that I'm a quarter of the way, the mage releases another spell, this time thankfully it's a low level spell. I raise my racket to block the spell as best I can, while hoping that the freaking bracelets won't decide that now would be a good time to crap out on me. The spell hits the racket and the bracelets disrupts the mana from going any further, after blocking I go back to closing in on the mage. I glance over to see the noble has already taken care of the bow's man, and is working his way over to the mage. I simply pick up my pace, when I'm only thirty meters away the mage is close to releasing another spell. Aw shit here comes a lighting spell, I brace myself for the impact, but it never came I look to see that the spell had gotten redirected when my 'ally' had attacked the mage. I didn't get hit,… I wasn't electrocuted… when did he…? I shake myself out of my stupor, and close in on the mage as he tries to flee from Mr. Bryant; I raise my racket and strike the mage on the head sending him to the ground. After making sure that the mage is out, I turn my attention to see if George has his opponent finished yet, or I would have if the announcer didn't just call an end to the battle. We head back to our entrance (before the guards drag us back), while the medics and guards bring our 'opponents' back to… well wherever it is that they take the injured people. Once we are in the entrance a squad of Papal knights (this time) guide us to our next entrance, then lock us in it.

"You've got ten minutes." Says one of the knights, before leaving us to sit here, until we're booted out again to fight against another set of opponents, George walks over to Mr. Bryant who is now staring at the wall in what appears to be deep thought.

"Alright, what is going on Regal, you were distracted and don't even try to come up with some excuse about no sleep or anything. I want a straight answer; there is something on your mind." Says George as he steps right in front of, well I guess the noble's name is Regal. Regal? Why would someone name their kid Regal, I mean wouldn't that set up some sort of high expectation? Ugh, why am I even thinking about this now? I shake my head of my weird and rambling thoughts, while trying to pay attention of what's going on in front of me. Regal is now looking at his hands, while his face is in an expression of guilt, and something else I can't seem to pick up on. George is in front of him tapping his foot while waiting for an answer to his question, I look between the two for a minute before deciding to lower my shield and extending my senses to see if I can pick up on what is bothering Regal (it's kind of weird calling him that.) He's troubled by something to do with that pink haired girl whose name I think started with an A, ugh I wish I could pick up more on his emotions, stupid bracelets are dulling my senses.

"You're troubled by something to do with a pink haired girl… she was important to you wasn't she?" I ask very softly without really looking at Regal, who I think I've shocked if the gasp I've heard is anything to go by.

"What pink haired girl?" asks George, I look at him for a moment before shaking my head and turning my gaze towards Regal.

"I'm assuming the same one whose blood is on his hands, the reason why a noble is here in the coliseum with a bunch of half-elves and the other scum of Tethe'alla. … His trouble has something to do with that girl." This really caught Regal's attention because he's now staring at me in shock that I knew something.

"H-how do you know what my crime is?" Asks Regal in utter shock, I match his gaze for a minute debating on how much I should explain since I know empaths don't usually spring up in prison cells, and last for more than a week or two with their sanity intact as well, (then again that is debatable with me.)

"I have the ability to feel other people's emotions to the point that I can get a general idea of what is the cause of their emotion, sometimes though, if a person happens to have a strong emotional reaction to something I can also sometimes see images relating to that particular emotion. Or in your case, I saw the images of the girl because you carry a lot of guilt concerning your hands." Regal now has a pensive look on his face, while staring towards me, well ok so it's more like just my general direction. …Damnit I just created an awkward silence! By my ancestors I swear I should just start making a living out of it, I'd be set for the rest of my life in like three days!

"When did you come in contact with my hands or are you able to ascertain that information from a distance?" asks Regal (finally) breaking the awkward silence, that I created yet again, the first bell sounds and we all get into a neutral position. I look towards Regal who is still waiting for an answer; I might as well tell him that I picked it up while he healed me.

"When you healed my injury on my head, while I was… the images of your crime seeped through the mana coming from your hands. The only thing I saw were you holding a pink haired girl and blood covering your hands, I'm pretty sure that there is more to your story than that but those were the images I got." He simply nods his head as the second bell rings and we're once again heading for another round of fighting, hopefully this one will end sooner than the last one.

---

"Katherine this is Zelos, he's our field agent in Meltokio." Says Padrino, while gesturing to the red haired man whose name apparently is Zelos.

"How do you do my lady," says Zelos while taking a 'bow' , before smirking at me. Zelos, isn't the name of the Tethe'allan Chosen Zelos as well? Well then again there may be more than one Zelos in the Tethe'allan aristocracy. So maybe this isn't him, what was the chosen's last name… oh yeah it was Wilder!

"Oh dear I do believe I've overwhelmed her with my beautiful smile." says Zelos interrupting my thoughts, I shoot him a glare, before closing my eyes and taking a deep breathe. After calming myself down and resisting the urge to punch him in the face, I open my eyes again to see that Zelos is still giving me a bemused look while eating the food that I brought, I simply shake my head at him before deciding to eat, since, for some reason I get the feeling that I won't be allowed to leave before I at least eat something. I look over to padrino to see him eating while keeping an eye on Zelos, I then look towards Lord Yuan who is staring right back at me as if waiting for something. What is he waiting for… he's waiting for me to do something, but what is it?

"She's not very talkative is she?" asks Zelos while sipping on the wine, and staring at me again. Ugh, I'd wish he'd stop staring at me like that, it's like he's trying to analyze me like a word problem.

"Could you please stop staring at me, it's kinda creeping me out." I ask, unfortunately my request was ignored as Zelos simply raises an eyebrow at me. C'mon why can't he stop staring at me… maybe there is something on my face. I grab a napkin and wipe my face to see if that will get him to stop staring at me,…and of course this doesn't work because now he is amused.

"I thought you said she was a bit of a live wire, she seems more like the mousy type than a live wire," says Zelos while still looking at me, I gaze towards mi padrino in hopes that maybe I can either leave or throw something at Lord Yuan's guest.

"She can be, but she's learned to restrain herself, though I believe way too much." Says padrino as he pats my head while giving me a small smile, I roll my eyes at him while ignoring the urge to stick my tongue out.

"Ah, I see we just need to push the right buttons," says Zelos whose expression I do not like at all right now. I back away from him and move closer to mi padrino (at least as close I can get in a chair.)

"Watch what you're doing Wilder," growls my padrino at Zelos, hold on padrino only growls out names like that when someone is doing something stupid, and usually its by their last name… He's the chosen! My eyes widen in surprise as I figure out who this 'field agent' was.

"Whoa, I was just kidding, Botta-man no need to growl at me," says Zelos while raising (and waiving) his hands in a defensive manner. I wonder what the nobility would think if they saw the Chosen acting like this. I start laughing as the ridiculousness of the scene in front of me hits me.

"Hey, hey this isn't funny! I'm in danger of being smacked in the face!" whines Zelos, this of course makes me laugh even harder, oh how the nobility of Tethe'alla would be scandalized by this… ha!

"Do you care to share what is so funny Miss Silva? It is rude to laugh at guests," asks Lord Yuan in fake annoyed voice, this of course gets me to stop laughing, I turn to Lord Yuan while resisting the giggles I feel bubbling underneath the surface from the situation.

"I was just thinking… about how the Tethe'allan nobility… would react… if they saw the Chosen acting as he is. You've got to admit that it… it is pretty funny," I say before succumbing to the giggles again…

"Time to wake up, kiddo." Says George, I open my eyes to his shaking and get up slowly, because I'm still sore from the last fourteen rounds, but especially the last one freaking fast mage. "Thata girl, how you feeling that last fight was pretty rough," says George while helping me sit up the rest of the way.

"Sore, and would love a nice hot bath and soft bed, but we both know that isn't happening anytime soon. Unless you decide to use that 'plan' you mentioned about three months ago, then it could happen soon." I mutter at George while giving him a sour look hoping to guilt him to use his plan or at least tell me what it is. This of course doesn't work; he just pats my head while giving me a placating look, before getting up and then helping me up. Ow, my back is sore…scratch that the stupid scars are throbbing its going to rain soon, its been too warm for snow. Then again it is almost spring… I think… damnit when the hell is George going to use this 'plan' of his!

"Did the sleep help you any?" asks Regal as he re-adjusts himself from his resting position. I look at Regal for a minute, while stretching slightly to get rid of the kinks in my arms without stressing the scars:

"Sort of, I'll be better once it rains, so did they tell us why we got like an hour between fights? Not that I'm complaining but, it's just weird the most we ever get is like half if we're really, really lucky. " Both of my 'cellmates' shake their heads in a negative fashion, I simply sigh while working out as many kinks as I can before they throw us out to the wolves again.

"What is wrong with your back?" asks Regal, I stop halfway through a stretch and give him a confused look, how does he know there is something wrong with my back? I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything about my back… and I don't think he looked at my back when he was healing the injuries on my head.

"You are not stretching normally; people tend to elongate their back as they stretch. You haven't elongated yours since you got up and you move your arms carefully as if to avoid stretching your back." Says Regal, while giving me a somewhat anxious look, I continue to stretch while contemplating an answer to that, since the truth won't work because it's a safe assumption that Regal doesn't know about Sylverant and its woes.

"Let's just say… that I wasn't always the brightest person… when it came to picking a fight." I say while trying to project an air of nonchalance. This just earns me a… I guess you would call it suspicion that is crossing Regal's face right now.

"You're-"

"Lying? Or are the words you're looking for 'hiding something'," I finish for Regal while giving him a 'do you really want to go there?' look. The first bell rings and we all pick up our weapons and try to work out the last of the kinks out. I wonder who the hell the opponent is that they gave us a little over an hour to rest.

"Are you going to be able to fight with your back bothering you?" asks Regal as we prepare for another fight, I look towards him for a moment before answering:

"I can, but it really doesn't matter if I can or can't because its either do it or die." The second bell rings and the roar of the crowd descends upon us once again as we exit out of the tunnel onto the battle field which has been cleaned up from the previous battles. I look across to see a red haired figure wearing a pink out fit. Only one person? Either they're really idiotic or they're really strong. I'll assume the latter is true and definitely keep to the hit and run strategy, while hopefully our 'heavy-weight' will be able to nail this person while distracted. Though I really hope its just idiotic I don't know how much more I can take today. I look over towards George who is studying our opponent, Regal is scrutinizing our opponent very intensely, I stretch out my senses to see why Regal is eyeing our opponent so intensely. He has to do something… my thoughts are interrupted as the announcer turns on the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a treat today! The Chosen himself is competing!" The crowd starts howling even louder at the announcement. You have got to be kidding me! We're going to have to fight Zelos? Damnit the only thing I know is that he's obnoxious on purpose, and will avoid fighting if he can… I think he uses a sword? I can't remember! The better question would be at this point is how the hell are we going to get into contact with him afterwards, I want to go home! I shake my head to clear my head before my thoughts meander more into 'fatalist' territory as George calls it. I glance over at Zelos to see he is making faces at a group of what looks like noble women.

"Oh Master Zelos~ "screeches a bunch of noble women, I think… my ear drums… have exploded… damn. I look to George to see that he is rubbing his ears in pain, I wave my hand to get his attention, when he turns to me I mime throwing a bomb over to the 'cheering' section. George snorts at me before miming what looks like someone hitting something and then running, I nod my head yes as the announcer begins the battle. I run forward towards Zelos as fast as my legs will let me, ignoring the pain from the burns and bruises from earlier battles.

"Demon fang!" I dodge the mana wave that was heading towards me, only to dodge an impaling attempt, idiot doesn't he value his life! I block another strike from Zelos, before trying to get away from him, unfortunately this doesn't work as he kicks me to the ground, knocking the breathe out of me.

"Double demon fang!" Zelos jumps away from the mana waves that were fired towards him, I get up hissing as I try my best to ignore the pain that is currently pulsating in my back. I'm going to give him a good knock to the head for sending me on my back and almost impaling my ass! I think as I grip the racket tighter before running right back into the fray. George closes in on him, their blades meet for a moment before George is sent back by Zelos. I raise my racket to strike when Zelos turns to me and swings his sword at me, I dodge to the right and lose my balance and fall on my right. Zelos goes to attack me when George comes from behind him pulls him back before he can counter. I get back up while trying to ignore the burning of my arms (plus back) and fling myself back into the fight as George is dislodged by Zelos. I raise my racket as he turns and bring it down with all of my strength, my swing makes its mark, and Zelos stumbles towards the ground while I run away from him to avoid retaliation. Ancestors can this end yet, the last fourteen fights are catching up with me. George charges right at Zelos as he gets up from the blow I dealt, ok where the hell is Regal? I make a quick scan of the field to see Regal moving towards Zelos in an attempt to get at him from behind. I look back to see George flying right towards me, aww crap! I need to pay better attention! I jump to the side to avoid a crash landing with Gorge as he hits the ground, on his side and keeps rolling.

"Sorry!" I yell to George as I head back in for another round of chicken with Zelos. As I raise my racket to attack, he swings his sword and catches me on the left, he follows that with a sweeping kick under my legs knocking me to the ground. I feel my face scrunch up in pain as my back hits the ground hard knocking the breath out of me as well, when I open my eyes again there is a short sword pointed at me, my eyes travel up the sword to see a smirking Zelos.

"Well hello there my precious flower, I wasn't expecting to meet you here!" I shoot him the best glare I can muster at this point, considering that I'm on the ground panting for breathe, bleeding from where his sword struck and with a sword pointing at my neck. This only makes him smirk that much more, if I could just see where the hell his legs were than I'd wipe that smirk off his face. "What are you doing here; don't tell me the boss-man is letting you spy here?" I give him a sour look, before seeing a movement of blue from my peripheral vision.

"As fun as it is to be chit-chatting with the Chosen, you have an unfortunate appointment coming up." I say while smirking, this causes a look of confusion to cross Zelos' face, I spy a head of blue that is currently preparing to launch himself at my talking buddy. I look back to see Zelos looking at me with suspicion I simply give him my best 'who me?' look before waving bye at him.

"What are you-"

"Waving at?" I finish for Zelos before grinning evilly as he nods in suspicion, "You! Bye bitch!"

His mouth gapes open but before he can respond he's kicked out of the way by Regal, who is now standing in front of me. I get up from the ground as fast as I can while ignoring the pain that is screaming from my back, I look to see George holding his arm while staggering towards me, giving me a small reassuring smile. Regal and Zelos are currently going at it, I study them hoping to end this battle soon before my legs give out on me.

"Hey kiddo I know that you really can't do anything about it right now but that gash on your side is bleeding pretty good." Says George, I look to my left as feel the warm blood running down my side. The entire left side of the dress is covered in red; I feel my heart speed up as I see the amount of blood that is coming out. Breathe woman breathe! It's not that bad, you just need to put some pressure on it until Regal can heal it better! I try to ignore the rising panic as I turn towards George:

"I don't suppose you could let me see that knife, unless you want to rip me off some fabric so I can cover the wound." I ask in as much of a steady voice as I can manage, George just rolls his eyes and cuts off part of the remains of the bow I was forced into. I take the fabric and place it over the wound before wrapping it tightly around my midsection. When I look back up from my manual first aid, I see Regal and Zelos staring at each other, both of them panting. I look to see George moving his one hand slightly; I jerk my head towards Zelos while making a stabbing motion with my hand, George nods before going back to his spell casting. I grip the racket in a more secure position, while trying to convince my body to move again, after a minute of catching my breathe I head towards Zelos, hoping to reach an end to this battle. As I close in on the Chosen, he turns towards me and launches another attack at me; I dodge it, barely keeping my footing as the feeling of my legs being made out of gelatin increases, I re-steady myself before continuing to close in on him.

"Damn, your persistent, as much fun as it is to play with you precious flower, this needs to end." Says Zelos as he jumps out of the way of my swings.

"Wind blade!" Suddenly the air is cutting up my skin, I cry out in pain as the magic makes my wounds worse.

"Hang on kiddo, stalagmite!" George yells, the next thing I hear is the ground shifting and hitting something. The magic stops its assault and I drop to my knees, panting as my whole body trembles, I feel blood dripping out of the many cuts that are across my body. Damn it all if only I didn't have these stupid bracelets than I could heal myself. … Of course the only part that doesn't have cuts are my wrists and hands, ugh I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I look up from the ground to see that George is barely staying on his feet, while Regal is trying his damndest to defeat Zelos. I try to get up and help in some way, but by the time I get to my feet the world starts to spin and goes fuzzy as I head back towards the ground and oblivion.

---

"She doesn't want to help us because she's part elf like the de-"

"Shut up! Can't you see that she was beaten to a millimeter of her life?" yells Pietro at the others in our block as I struggle to keep the blood loss to a minimum from my 'progress meeting' with Kvar.

"It's probably just an act boy! Can't you see that or are you too blinded by her per-" I hear the sound of flesh hitting flesh, as Pietro screams in rage. Everything goes fuzzy as the last of my energy goes into closing up the cuts all over my body.

...

"Hey there sleeping beauty, how are you?" asks Pietro when I open my eyes, I look around to see that I'm in my little hell hole again. I try to sit up but Pietro stops me:

"You need to rest, since you know that they'll work you twice as hard as before." I sigh in defeat before answering:

"Better than before, at least I got the cuts to stop bleeding but I still feel tired as hell and my head hurts from mana deprivation." He smiles at me slightly, before digging at something beneath the bed, when Pietro looks back up from under the bed he's holding a bottle of what looks like miracle gel.

"Is that-"

"Yup, I managed to steal one from a drunken desian, idiot should know better than to leave it on a counter. Especially when you have us 'inferior beings' clean up your mess!" says Pietro grinning very mischievously, I smile weakly as he hands me the gel. I try to open it but my hands won't keep a grip of the bottle, Pietro takes the bottle back and opens it for me. He then tips my head up so that I can drink it, after drinking it all I make myself more comfortable as I look at Pietro, whose face is bruised from the fight earlier.

"Pietro, I'm sorry ab-"

"Don't worry about it; those guys are just cowards taking their anger out on you instead of taking it out on the real source." Interrupts Pietro while grinning that signature grin that I swear makes him look like a doofus. I shake my head at him before rolling my eyes:

"Now tell me about this drunken desian…"

"… deal with hicks from Sylverant." Says someone I don't know who, all I know is that I'm sore and would love to go back to sleep if my body would let me.

"Yeah, pretty much and bring her along as well, at least until we can do a much more secure rescue, it's going to be hell as it is for you just to get her to come with you, trying to bring her back to the base… I don't even want to think about it and I'm not the one politicking." Someone else says, further disrupting my goal of going back to oblivion, ugh I wish whoever is talking would shut up I want to sleep… I give up on my goal and open up my eyes to see a brown ceiling. Where am I? This isn't the prison cell, and its certainly not my room at home. The last thing I remember is trying to get back up… I try to bolt up, but I can't because my back explodes into pain, I feel someone pushing me back down gently while I resist the urge to scream in pain.

"Why do you always jump right up after awakening from a possibly life threatening injury, you never wake up like that for school," comments George (I think it is anyway.) I take a couple of shuddering deep breaths, while the pain subsides. I open my eyes to see a bruised but otherwise smirking George hovering over me, I simply raise an eyebrow at him.

"Was that a rhetorical question?" I ask, while suppressing a smirk, George is now giving me a curious look.

"Not entirely, but seriously I never see you get up that fast for school, especially when you know you have math." Says George still smirking at me, I snort in response which only reminds me that my side is injured.

"Well gee George, usually when one has life threatening injuries, they're usually acquired during a life threatening situation, so to wake up in a different setting makes most people just a little bit nervous. Besides everyone knows that me and math are mortal enemies… well everyone but Ms. Jones, but c'mon look at the woman!" I respond.

"Alright, so how is our precious flower doing," asks Zelos who I think was the first one I heard when I woke up, I sigh at the damn nick name. I got him to stop flirting, but I still haven't gotten him to drop the freaking nick name.

"Well since she's using that rapier wit of hers on me I'd say she's fine other than her injuries which will just take some time to heal." Answers George, before helping me sit up slowly, I look around to see that I'm in a medical room of some sort. There are three more beds other than the one I'm on, a re-adjustable table next to mine as well as curtains separating each bed from the rest of the room. I open my mouth to ask how we got here but I'm cut off by Zelos.

"I pulled some strings to get you guys here instead of the prison. I'm sorry for the injuries in the coliseum but I couldn't blow my cover just to spare you guys." I cock my head to one side in confusion as I try to figure out what was going on exactly. So lets see if I have this straight; George probably got caught from infiltrating the either the guards or the knights but had formulated a plan to escape, however when I got dragged into the prison that plan had to be revised. Somehow George was getting information out to everyone back at the base or else there probably would have been a rescue attempt by now,… but there is the fact that the Pope knows that I'm valuable to the Renegades somehow so he's probably got extra security around my cell-

"What's with the face precious flower, you seem lost." Asks Zelos interrupting my thoughts, I stare at him and blink a few times trying to get my brain to work, since my train of thought just got de-railed.

"I think she's trying to piece together what happened up to this point," answers George, while patting my head and smirking at me some more. And to think I actually missed being treated like a five year old!

"Yeah, yeah I know your not five, so you can stop with the face, look to basically sum it up, it was way too risky to actually break out, especially since the pope had his freaking eye on you . So me, a few of ours in the guard and the base came up with a plan where this one," he indicates Zelos, "'intercepted' the fact that you are important to the Renegades and that the pope was holding you prisoner. So he will bring you to the king while convincing him to let the Irving kid's group to travel in Tethe'alla, with you of course because-"

"I'm a valuable bargaining chip blah, blah, blah! So basically I won't be going home for who knows how long right?" I whine, not caring how immature I sound (even though I was just complaining about being treated like a little kid), I'm just sick of dealing with Tethe'alla, and being used as a freaking bargaining chip to whatever powers that be. George gently grabs my head and tilts it, before kissing me on the forehead.

"You are your mother's daughter; you'll make it through this. Don't give up ok little love?" Whispers George, not that I understood exactly what he said (since I'm sure it was in Elvin) but I think he was telling me it'll be alright. I sigh in frustration, fighting the tears that threaten to come out, I rest my head on George's shoulder for a minute or two before looking up to see him smiling at me with encouragement; I turn towards Zelos who is leaning against the wall with his arms folded behind his head.

"So I guess your going to be my keeper then?" I ask Zelos dejectedly, who simply raises an eyebrow at my wording, before walking towards the bed and leaning over so that he is eye-level with me.

"I know your aren't thrilled to be traveling with me and a bunch of bumpkins, but try to look at it as a traveling vacation." Says Zelos (who for once is dropping the 'precious flower' crap), while giving me a slight grin. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll see to it that we'll stay in the nicest hotels, they usually have very nice showers," I smile slightly at the thought of a nice hot shower, "Aha! Finally a smile, see traveling with me won't be so bad."

"Well… I guess as long as you lay off the 'precious flower' crap then I should be fine." I say.

"That might be a problem… if Sheena is with them I'm going to have to keep up the flirtatious image," I feel my expression darken at the mention of Sheena, this of course causes Zelos to become confused, "What's with the sour look, have you met Sheena?" I huff in response, which only causes Zelos to scrutinize me some more:

"You could say that… I guess it depends on your definition of 'met."' I answer, while suppressing a smirk.

"This situation is somehow her fault, am I right?" asks Zelos, I shrug my shoulders slightly (to avoid setting off my back,) before answering:

"Well it was her idea first to use me as a bargaining chip, but then Raine a white haired h- Elvin woman decided that it would be a great idea to use me as a bargaining chip for later, so here I am!" Zelos goes to answer me, when a knock at the door interrupts him:

"Chosen his majesty has called for an audience in ten minutes, he would like you to bring the Renegade girl as well." Says a voice coming from the other side of the door, Zelos gets up and turns to the door.

"Tell his majesty I will be there as quickly as I can," says Zelos, before turning back to me, and now looking me up and down with a critical eye. "Ten minutes isn't much time, and we need to make you presentable." Why do I get the feeling that this is going to involve another dress?

---

About five minutes later I'm in a simple servant's dress, with Zelos putting my hair into a braid, I sigh as the cold pit in my stomach grows even bigger. I feel my hands shaking as I try to suppress the growing panic at the thought that I'm going to appear in front of his majesty, (the same guy that could decide that I'm either good hostage material or guillotine meat.) On top of this all, I'm basically going to be stuck without anyone I'm close to, I close my eye as I take deep breathes to calm my nerves , I open my eyes to see Zelos staring at me centimeters away from my face. I back up from him, when I start to fall off the chair; I close my eyes in expectation of an impact… that never came. I open my eyes to Zelos holding me and his face even closer than before, I snap my eyes close again as a wave of panic crashes over me as I realize how close he is.

"Hey what's wrong?" asks Zelos as he pulls me closer which causes me to whimper in fear as memories flash before my eyes.

"You're too close to her Ze- I mean Chosen, sit her back on the chair and back away." Says George with a slight edge to his voice, I can feel Zelos' confusion at George's words, but he guides me to a chair and sits me gently down into it. I bring my arms to hug myself when someone grabs them, my eyes snap open to see George holding my arms.

"George I-"

"Shh, you're alright things were just moving too quickly for you that's all, but now that he knows to be extra careful, you should be fine." George pulls me into a hug, "'Cada uno tiene la capacidad de tomar una descisiòn , pero solomante èsos con los corazones abieritos y fuertes pueden hacer la descisiòn difícil.' ('Everyone has the ability to make a choice, but only those with open and strong hearts can make the hard choices.')" whispers George as I return the embrace fiercely knowing it is the last I'll see him for awhile, I let go after a minute and look at him in confusion. Since when did he speak-?

"Sorry kiddo that's all I got, but I believe you have the strength to make it through this, just remember that you aren't alone this time kay?" I smile at George, before getting up and walk over to Zelos, I turn back to George and smile slightly:

"I believe the traditional Elvin farewell went like this: Until we meet again, may the Great Tree's branches shield you." George snorts before shaking his head at me:

"And you said you didn't speak Elvin, now get goin' you don't need to piss off the king." I smile even bigger before waving bye to him and walk out the door with Zelos. Once we exit the room Zelos gently grabs my shoulder and guides me down a hallway that leads to another hallway.

"Look we'll be to the throne room soon, I don't suppose proper etiquette was a part of your education was it?" asks Zelos as he continues to guide me through the castle hallways.

"Umm… you mean like how to curtsy and stuff?" I ask hesitantly, Zelos nods to a pair of guards that pass us, before answering me.

"Well that and how to address and approach his majesty."

"Umm… sort of? I read about it in a history book, but the manners used in there are probably out dated, however I'm pretty sure I've got curtsying down." Zelos looks at me with curiously before asking:

"And how are you sure of that, I thought you were from Sylverant? I know Yuan doesn't have you guys do that kind of stuff."

"I am, it's just that I used to practice that kind of thing when I was younger while pre-"I stop blushing as I realized that I was about to ramble on about stuff from my childhood to Zelos. Oh ancestors just strike me down now before I make a bigger fool of myself. Zelos just chuckles at me in amusement:

"Cute, anyway when you approach the king don't look up at his face, in fact if you keep your head lowered in a maidenly fashion it'll make you seem younger , also clasp your hands together in front of you that will make you seem more like one of the castle staff than a Renegade. " We stop in front of a large and ornate door, Zelos turns from the door and looks at me.

"This is it, the best thing for you at this point would be to act as scared and meek as possible." I nod in response, since my throat closed up from nervousness. Zelos looks at me for a moment before leaning his face in closer to mine, I start to back up at the movement but Zelos' arm stops me from getting very far.

"I'm not going to hurt you Katherine," whispers Zelos, I stare at him as I feel the sincerity behind his words, my face heats up even more than before as I realize how handsome he is, that and the fact that he is like ten centimeters away from my face. I look away from his face as my heart goes into overdrive, I hear Zelos smirk as his grip loosens from around my shoulders, I look up to see Zelos staring at me with a strange expression.

"You look like you're about thirteen when you're blushing, try to think of things that'll make you blush we need you to look as young and vulnerable as possible mmm'kay?" Zelos purrs the last part while leaning closer again, causing my blush to deepen some more. I nod numbly in response as my brain is currently flooded by a lot of conflicting feelings and deprived of oxygen because half of my blood supply is currently in my cheeks. Damn my hormones to hell! Ancestors why can't I be immune to them! The door opens and we step inside what appears to be the throne room, the walls are covered with enormous tapestries depicting various scenes of Tethe'allan history. At the end of the room sits a man with long brown hair, and a beard sitting in a high backed gold chair, to the of him is the pope I lower my gaze away from the pope before my expression darkens.

"You're late Chosen, what took you so long?" asks the King, at least I think it is the King I'm currently looking at floor trying to give the impression that I'm a scared maiden away from home (though the sad part is that some of that is true).

"I'm sorry your majesty, I was gathering more appropriate clothing for our guest," says Zelos smoothly while placing his hand on my shoulder; I wince slightly as I feel the tension he has.

"Hmph, so you cleaned her appearance up that doesn't make her any less of a filthy mixed breed." Sneers the Pope, I clench my hands together in anger hoping to pass it off as a sign of nervousness. I feel a flash of anger pass through Zelos.

"Doesn't mean that she should appear in front of his majesty in bloodied and tattered clothing." Counters Zelos, without a hint of the anger I felt present in his voice. The Pope makes a sound that I can't quite make out, but I'm assuming it was a sound of disgruntlement.

"Come here child I wish for you to stand before me," says the King interrupting the little spat between the Pope and Zelos. I walk forward slowly to the foot of steps leading up to the throne, once there I curtsy while lowering my head in a more maidenly fashion.

"Where are you parents child you can't be older than thirteen, why are you here instead of home with them," asks the King, I clasp my hands tighter as a wave of sadness comes over me, I take a deep breathe before answering:

"I-I don't live with my parents an-anymore, y-your ma-majesty…. I-I was living wi-with m-my G-godfather u-until…" I close my eyes as I feel the tears forming, ok just breathe and think of happy things, like like like puppies!... Damn it that just made me think of Genis and his damn puppy dog eyes! No, no. no happy things, happy things, happy things like like like flowers! Yes flowers especially lilacs-

"Where are your parents child, are they apart of the Renegades?" asks the King, interrupting my attempt of cheering myself up before I start crying. I take a couple of deep (though shuddering) breathes to calm myself before the tears start flowing.

"D-do y-you know of t-the problems t-that plague S-Sylverant?" I receive a noise of conferment from the King, "M-my parents were… k-k-killed… b-b-by t-th-the D-desians a-and…" I cover my mouth as the tears start running down my face as the memories flash in my mind of that horrible night.

"Sire, the envoy from Mizuho is here. Do you wish to meet with them now or shall we have them wait?" asks a guard from the door of the throne room.

"Is Sheena with them?" asks the King.

"Yes your majesty, shall we let them in?"

"I wish to speak with Sheena now, bring her in here." I hear the clanking of armor before the door closes.

"Perhaps as a Renegade member, you can tell me what went wrong with Sheena's mission," asks the King, crap how the hell am I supposed to answer that? I was in a human ranch for half the time that she was on the 'mission.' I take a few deep breathes to calm myself as much as I can before answering:

"I'm not entirely sure what ha-happened yo-your majesty, I-I didn't ha-have much involvement wi-with that mi-mission, I-I'm kitchen h-help…. All I-I kn-know a-about that mission is that Sh-Sheena w-was supposed to as-assassinate t-the Ch-chosen. I-instead she was t-the one t-to bring m-me h-here…" The door opens interrupting me; I hear foot steps coming from behind me I turn to see Sheena walking towards me. The expression on her face when she notices me causes me to step back involuntarily, ancestors above am I glad that looks can't kill or else I would have died two seconds ago! There is nothing but pure animosity in that glare of hers! Sheena gets down on one knee when she is about three meters away from the throne and places a hand over her heart.

"You wished to see me your majesty?" Asks Sheena very demurely, though I can tell she is agitated at the fact that I'm here and not at that safe house with Ramona.

"What happened on your mission in Sylverant why am I receiving reports that the Chosen from Sylverant has completed her journey? I've also received information that you've abducted a young girl from her lawful guardian?"

"Forgive my insolence your majesty but the Chosen of Sylverant hasn't actually completed her journey, I was hoping to come here directly after leaving Sylverant to explain the situation fully when I was almost detained by the Papal knights and falsely accused of treason and kidnapping." The King nods his head in understanding:

"If what you say is true that the Sylveranti Chosen hasn't completed their journey, then why are you here and why did you abduct a young girl from her rightful guardian?"

"I am here to explain my failure in my mission of assassinating the Sylveranti Chosen, due to the fact that the Chosen has turned into an angel and now longer have her heart. Her companions wish to return her to her former self."

"And where are these-" A noise at the door of the throne room interrupts the King, we all look towards the door to see a guard collapsing to the ground, behind the guard a is a white figure with pink wings behind them. What the hell is the Chosen doing-

"Colette!" a figure dressed in red screams while running towards the currently hostile Chosen, oh great just what I need, its Lloyd and company… I think while all hell breaks loose.

---

So I am now in Zelos' living room after spending two and half hours in the throne room listening to those guys explain their selves, as well as getting permission to travel in Tethe'alla with Zelos as their 'guide.' … Or to be more accurate I'm now currently sitting across a very angry Lloyd in Zelos' living room, who is giving me a very intense and evil looking glare, what is waiting for an apology because I got kidnapped by a very muscular convict? He is got to be kidding himself right now. I return the very intense glare with a flat look, before taking a sip of the water that is next to me on the coffee table. My apparent nonchalance only increases Lloyd's anger, while Genis looks between us anxiously. Raine is too busy grilling Zelos and Sheena about Tethe'allan angel research to notice the impending fight between me and Lloyd… well more like Lloyd starting with me because I 'disappeared,' ever so willingly from their keeping. I let a yawn escape as I sit here through the tense silence between me and Lloyd, this causes Lloyd to growl at me, I can feel my eyebrow raising in confusion at the growl, what I'm not allowed to yawn? If I didn't think I'd be tackled to the ground I'd go to bed now. Ugh… I think I'll end this now I really don't have the energy to deal with this right now.

"Either spit it out or I will do it for you then I'm going to bed," I say in a very tired and annoyed voice, Lloyd's expression becomes a mix between surprise, confusion and anger (don't ask how his face is showing that many emotions it just is.) I wait for about half a minute for Lloyd to respond to my demand, sighing when he doesn't.

"I'm going to guess that your pissed off at me because I 'disappeared' in the middle of the night without a trace or word for that matter, while your friend has been in a coma for about three months. Look I've been locked up in prison while fighting in the coliseum with dull weapons which half of the time I didn't know how to use! I fought everyday for the entertainment of a bunch of snobby rich and drunk people! And let me just say that a 'light' day at the coliseum was ten fights or less and that only happened twice in the past ten weeks! Trust me on this if I had a choice I would've stayed with you guys, since I know going home really isn't an option right now, but unfortunately for me it seems that I don't get a choice in anything" After I finish my rant, I get up from the chair and stretch as much as my tired and abused muscles will let me before walking towards the stairs.

"Where do you think your going I've got more questions to ask!" yells Lloyd, I turn around and face Lloyd with a 'I really don't care right now,' look.

"Bed. I'm tired. This day needs to end," I growl before turning back to my original direction in hopes of finding a comfy bed. Unfortunately my plan of action is derailed as Zelos saunters over and swings his arm around my shoulders while grinning:

"Let me show you to your room then precious flower~" I attempt to push myself away from him at the tone in his voice, damnit I thought he got the message to lay off this kind of crap! This doesn't work too well because Zelos just pulls me closer as he drags me towards the stairs. I elbow him as hard as I can, which dislodges his arm, I start up the stairs as fast as I can when a thud catches my attention. I turn to see Zelos on the floor wrapped in what looks like paper.

"Idiot Chosen!" yells Sheena as she stomps over to Zelos who is trying to get up without much success. Sheena helps him up to his feet before smacking him in the face. I shake my head at the situation and continue my trek up the stairs so that I can finish my mission of finding a comfortable bed.

"And where do you think your going young lady?" asks Raine, in that tone that a teacher gives you when you've done something wrong. I turn around to face her while giving her a sour look. I take a deep breathe and let it out before answering:

"To find ya know the nice comfy rectangular thing that people sleep for eight to twelve hours on." I turn back around and continue my trek up the stairs for the third time in five minutes. Someone grabs my arm preventing me from continuing on with my goal of finding a bed. I stand there for a moment debating on weather I feel like turning around to see who is holding my arm or attempt to get them off and work my way up the rest of the stairs.

"We still haven't eaten dinner yet, you can't go to bed without eating anything," says Lloyd, I sigh in exasperation as I feel his grip tightening on my arm.

"I'll live, trust me it's not the first time I've gone without a meal. Now let go of my arm so I can find a bed and crash for the next twelve hours!"

"Why are you being so stubborn I'm just trying to help! Besides you can't gain any strength by skipping meals!" I finally turn around at that statement getting the feeling that he won't leave me alone until I at least answer him. The expression on Lloyd's face tells me that I'm probably not going anywhere until I eat, I sigh for what feels like the twentieth time in the past two minutes.

"Because… I'm tired, my back is killing me, I'm covered in half healed burns and bruises, and I almost got impaled several times today…. Like I said today needs to end, and it will… in the oblivion that is sleep! Now would you please let me go!" I growl out the last part as I finally yank my arm free from Lloyd's grip, I stare at him for a moment to see if he'll try to follow me, after that I make my way up the rest of the stairs . Once at the top of the stairway I see two different hallways, I stand there debating on which way to take when a interrupts that debate.

"Are you looking for your bedroom miss," asks a butler whose name I can't remember right now, I look at the man and simply nod. He guides me down the hallway to the right of the stairs before stopping in front of a door and opening it for me.

"Your room Miss, have a pleasant night," I nod in response before walking into the room, the door shuts behind me and I collapse into the bed crying as the stress of the day hits me at once. I want to go home, I'm so sick of Tethe'alla! I want these stupid bracelets off, I hate not being able to heal! I miss George and Padrino and… I cry until there is nothing left but the cold pit in my chest I lie there until the sweet relief and oblivion of sleep takes me.

---

Congratulations you've made it to the end of this angst filled chapter! There is an assortment of desserts and drinks for your enjoyment! You may skip this next section and press the magical review button that makes my day! Or you can read this next section which is bonus fluff scene, because lets face it we all need a huge cleansing after this chapter! Thanks for reading! ^.^

Info on bonus scene: Katherine's point of view at age eight and the orgins of Botta's nick name for her.

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"Màs tè señora Kiki? (More tea Lady Kiki?)" I ask.

"Porquè sí, muchas gracias princesa Katalina, (Why yes, thank you very much Princess Katherine)" answers Kiki while using her hoof to push her tea cup forward. I pour some in her cup before turning to face the other lady of my court.

"Y tù señora Elena? (And you Lady Elena?)"

"Amaría un poco màs princesa Katalina. Y puedo decir còmo bonita usted es mira hoy. (I would love a little bit more Princess Katherine. And can I say how pretty you look today.)" says Elena while holding her cup in a lady like way for more tea. I fill her cup only a quarter of the way full.

"Porquè gracias señora Elena, y yo amamos el color de su vestido que usted usando hoy!" I say smiling like a princess would.

"Katalina, mamà quisiera que ested volveira a casa! (Katherine, mom wants you to come home!)" calls Devante from the back porch of Elena's house. I turn towards Devante (like a princess) and wave to him before turning back to Elena.

"Lo siento señora Elena, pero mi mamà me quiere a casa. Me volverè mañana , promesa! (I'm sorry Lady Elena, but my mom wants me home. I'll come over tomorrow, promise!)" I say while curtsying quickly.

"Es vale! Adíos Katalina, hasta manñana! (it's okay! Bye Katherine see you tomorrow!)" says Elena while waving goodbye, I run over to Devante after waving bye to Elena.

"Porquè mama nos quiere a casa? (Why does mom want us home?)" I ask after we said goodbye to Elena's mom and started walking back home.

"Yo no sè, mama acaba de decir consigue y volvere a casa. ( I don't know, mom just said to come get you and bring you home. We make it to our house after a minute or two of walking.

"Estàmos aquí mama," we call as we enter the kitchen where our mom was making something. My mom walks over to us and gives us each a kiss on the head, Devante makes a face at being kissed, I giggle at him which only make him glare at me.

"Su padrino y padre estaràn aquí pronto Devante. Puedes ir y recolectar la madera si tù quieres, sè que quiso demostrar a su padrino còmo es fuerte tù ha conseguiandas.(Your Godfather and father are going to be here soon Devante. You can go and gather the wood if you want, I know that you want to show your Godfather how strong you have gotten.)" Mom says, Devante looks at mom in surprise, she nods her head while laughing and making 'go' motions with her hands.

"Muchas gracias mama!(Thank you mom!)" says Devante before running out towards the back door where the wood is kept. My laughs some more at Devante's silliness, before turning to me and asking:

"Còmo estaba casa de Elena mi peqeuña? Tù se divirte con su partido de tè? (How was Elena's house my little one? Did you have fun with your tea party?)" I nod as I start to tell her about how me and Elena traveled to this faraway land where there were fairies and the fairies used magic to make anything we wanted come true, so we wished for a palace where everyone was happy and there were tea parties and dances all the time:

"Y era la princesa y la vaca del jugeute de Elena, Kiki era una señora en mi corte y- (And I was the princess and Elena's toy cow Kiki was a lady in my court and-)" My mom laughs at me before I can finish telling her about the tea party.

"Mamà yo no ha acabado mi historia todavía! (Mom I haven't finished my story yet!) " I whine while my mom smiles at me before picking me up.

"Me siento mi pequeña, pero tù mirabras baile mona en su vestido de princesa, que tuve que reír. (I'm sorry my little one, but you looked so cute dancing in your princess dress that I had to laugh.)" Says my mom before kissing me on the head again, "Còmo sobre usted entre la sala de estar y pregunte su papa y a huèspedos si quisieran algo beber? (How about you go into the living room and ask your dad and the guests if they want something to drink?"

"Puedo sin embargo ser una princesa? (Can I still be a princess?)" I ask.

"Por supeusto mi pequeña! (Of course my little one!)" laughs my mom while putting me down on the ground.

"Vale!" I squeal before heading to the living room (in a princess way.) Once I get there I see Lord Yuan sitting in a chair across from my dad. I walk in and curtsy to them both:

"Buenas tardes papa, buenas tardes señor Yuan, quiere usted un bebido? (Good afternoon dad, good afternoon Lord Yuan, would you like a drink?)" Lord Yuan raises an eyebrow at me before smiling a little:

"And what honor do I owe, that I'm greeted by a princess?" asks Lord Yuan, while hiding an amused smile, that I know is there.

"It is the princess' duty to greet her guests that come to her court," I say while swishing around in the dress some more.

"I didn't realize that we were going to be in the company of a princess," says mi padrino. I turn around to face him and curtsy.

"Good afternoon Lord Botta, may I interest you in a drink?" I ask very lady like, my padrino only laughs at me, I pout at my padrino.

"I'm sorry its just that your such a cute and little princess that I had to laugh. Besides its very un-lady like to pout and princesses are ladies." Says mi padrino, I wrinkle my nose at him before turning back to everyone else head held high.

"Oh so that is how its going to be, and here I was with a surprise but if-" I turn around quickly as I realize that I won't receive a present.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry! I'll be nicer I promise! I-" I don't get a chance to finish because padrino starts to tickle me. I try to get away from him but he just picks me up and sits down on the chair while tickle torturing me."Pa-papà!... L-lord Y-yuan h-he-help!... I'm being tortured!" I yell as padrino continues to tickle me, I see that both my papa and Lord Yuan aren't coming to my rescue. After a minute padrino stops tickling me:

"Have you learned your lesson now, little princess?" asks padrino, I nod because I'm out of breath from being tickled.

"I was wondering what happened to my princesa, but I see that her fairy Godfather has captured her," says my mom from the doorway smiling. I feel mi padrino's surprise at mi mama's words, I turn around to see mi padrino giving mi mama a funny look.

"So does that mean that fairy Godfathers are bad?" I ask while giggling at padrino's expression.

"No, they just help little princesses like you be happy," says my mom while she comes over kisses mi padrino on the cheek before winking at him.

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So I'll end it here since this scene was turning into more of a one-shot. XD Hopefully I got the cute across, I love the mental image I got of Botta wearing a poufy dress from writing this. *clears throat* Anyway I've got two questions for you guys the first one being: should I write shorter chapters so I'll update faster, but that'll probably mean less plot advancement (sometimes) or stick to the growing length with more plot advancement (hopefully) but longer update time? As for my other question, do you guys think it would be *shudders at the term* mary-sueish if Katherine was tri-lingual instead of bi? I'm just wondering because I have an idea to explain why she can't speak Elvin, but I don't want her to be sueish. You can answer my questions in a review (which really do make my day!) Or I'll put up a poll on my profile and you guys can vote there! Until next chapter! ^.^