Author's Note: Whew! I'm so relieved that you guys don't hate me for that last one. I had never written a scene like that before and I was seriously considering just taking it out. You can always count on me to try something unusual and risky. Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following! This chapter is more of a look into Fever's past. I hope it's not too boring. Enjoy!

Chapter 10:

Fever sets her overcoat onto her bed and sighs as she sits down for a moment, feeling her feet finally stop aching from constantly being used. She couldn't even remember the last time she had slept. Probably since I was almost turned into one of Luke's leeches. The thought makes her shudder and she takes off her boots to switch into a comfortable pair of slippers. She pulls on a red tunic and gathers her sword and knives before making her way to the armory.

She runs her fingers over the gold and red towers of Cyprus, feeling as if she could finally relax. Val had assured her long ago that no one else could find them there. As their main way of transportation was through teleporting, they had made their home in one of the dimensions that opened up to them while they traveled. Only others who could teleport and see the portals to different dimensions could find them, and as far as they knew, there was no one fit those criteria.

Small cherubs flitter around her, carrying arrows and knives that need to be repaired. She smiles slightly at them and continues into the vault that holds their most important weapons. She sets her sword down onto one of the tables and it is instantly taken by one of the little creatures to be melted down into a new one. They rarely repaired her sword or dagger in case it retained a weak spot. If one of them got too dinged up from use or she thought the hilt would break, she just got a new one and had the old metal reused. She hands them her dagger and all of the knives in her belt as well, and they instantly begin to check them for any damage.

Fever goes to the wall that holds all of her swords, and she stares at them for a moment before picking one that was identical to her last, lifting it in her hand and checking the balance. She twirls it and slashes it in the air before deciding to take it, and grabs another set of silver shoulder plates as well. As she stares up at the weapons on the wall she is taken back to when Val first taught her how to fight. She had not been prepared at all when the moon chose her to be a Spirit. Even after being introduced to his world, she didn't expect to be fighting. But she had quickly learned that with the good came the bad, and she needed to be prepared. He had been so patient with her, teaching her how to keep her balance while using the sword. He had helped her aim improve immensely so she could fight from a distance by throwing her knives, and most importantly he had helped her find her own strength. At that thought she bites her lip and turns away from the weapons.

"I'll come back for the knives later, okay?" She asks, and the cherubs nod and squeak at her. She leaves the armory to go back to her room and sets the items onto the bench by her window, sitting down to watch the fluffy clouds move across the sky in between the pillars. She cuts off her tie to Val, feeling the need for some privacy without him in her mind and soul. That was something he hadn't taught her, but she had learned on her own after a couple decades. There were times when she just didn't want him to be able to feel her. Her eyes move from outside to her lap as she gets lost in her memories, of why she had been chosen for her specific job.

She had been a passionate woman for as long as she could remember, but never had she even considered doing what John was accusing her of.

"John, I swear, I didn't cheat on you!" She cries out, her eyes filling with tears as her fiancé continues to look at her like a stranger. She didn't both trying to touch him. He had already pulled away from her twice. She knew that her touch was the last thing he wanted right now, convinced that it was somehow tainted.

"I heard it straight from the guy you were with, Fiona! I can't believe you're trying to lie your way out of this. I thought we agreed that we'd always be honest with each other!"

"I am being honest. I didn't do it. I don't know who you spoke to, but it's not true. You know me!" His eyes lower to the floor and he laughs wryly.

"I thought I did, but I can't do this anymore." There is a moment of silence until Fiona speaks up.

"What are you saying?" She whispers, and when he doesn't look up at her she strides over and grabs his chin to make him look, raising her voice. "What are you saying, John?"

"I don't want to marry you." In that one sentence she all but collapses, and as the tears run down her cheeks John gently pushes her aside to exit the kitchen.

"John…"

"I need to go."

"John, we need to talk about this. You're acting-"

"Ridiculous?" He turns on her and she stops in her tracks at the anger that is in his eyes. He had never looked at her like that before, and it shakes her to her core. "Ridiculous is you ruining something great, Fiona." He leaves through the front door of their home and slams it behind him. She stands there, wrapping her arms around her stomach as if to hold back the pain, but the sobs start and don't stop, and soon she's lying on the couch in the eerie silence of their once happy home.

She stayed there all night, waiting for him to come back so they could apologize and straighten everything out. But he never came home. The next knock on the door was from the police, and they had sat her down and watched her carefully as they explained that her fiancé was dead. They had suspected her, of course, but somehow she had managed to clear her name. But that didn't give her any closure, any comfort.

John had spent that entire night drowning his sorrows in vodka, and when he had stumbled out in front of a carriage he had signed his own death warrant. She had never known him to drink more than a glass or two of wine, and she marveled at how easy she had lost him.

Fever feels her tears splash her hands and lap as she relives the pain. She didn't understand how it had happened back then, how she had lost him to such stupidity and lies. After she had died, quite ironically, at the pointy end of an arrow during an archery accident, she had learned a lot about that night. She had learned how Luke himself had spread the lie, had made it consume John to the point that it caused him to kill himself indirectly. She had known that he would never look at her with such hatred, and now she knew that he never would have had it not been for that demon.

She thinks about Truth; how her best friend had been on her way to cleanse the lies that destroyed their relationship but was simply too late to stop the outcome. The girls had bonded a lot after that. Fever didn't blame Truth for not making it in time. She was thankful that she had been watching over them, and after she found out that Luke had been trapped within holy ground shortly after her tragedy, she was able to find some closure. And Val had taught her how to defend herself and others against deception and malice, which she did with the passion that formed her center.

And then there was Aster, who had done nothing but turn her world completely upside down. She didn't know if she should feel guilty about having such strong feelings for someone else after the death of her fiancé, even if it had been so long ago. Was there even an expiration date on her first love? She wished that things were different, that she was in a time and place where she felt completely free to give herself over to her feelings for Aster. Unfortunately, she was just going to have to see how this all played out.

Now that Luke was back, she couldn't help but feel like this was personal. His targeting Truth and herself, tearing apart all of relationships that she and Val had created; he was definitely trying to destroy humanity, but he was making sure they got to see him do it. Full-tilt diva. She scoffs and stands from her bench, reaching up to wipe away the tears from her cheeks. Her eyes harden at the thought of Luke's plan, and she vows to kill him herself before he can steal any more souls.

xoXox

Author's Note: So now you guys know a little more about Fever. Review please!