"So, what have you been up to?" Guy asked.

They were heading towards the castle in Grand Chokma, after arriving via Jade's new ship, The Necromancer.

It was a fitting name, Tear had thought.

"Yulia City was in a brief crisis situation after The Score was destroyed," she told Guy, "there was a lot of debate about what to do."

"Well, I'm sure you had an incredibly fun time writing records," Jade said sarcastically.

Tear frowned. "Please…"

It had been a year since people wandered the streets of Yulia City with looks of confusion on their faces. A year since protestors lined up outside the town hall, asking what to do.

And then it had been just yesterday that a group of rebels had attacked. They still clung to The Score, even after all this time.

Was it really that important? Tear asked herself. Can't people decide for themselves about what to do?

She closed her eyes. After all, Luke had. He had broken the norm of what one should do in life. He…

No, a soldier's duty was….

Guy approached the guards at the door, grinning.

"Commander Cecile! Colonel Curtiss!" They saluted. "Emperor Peony is eager to hear your reports."

Guy nodded and stepped inside, followed by Jade and Tear.

"Hey, I wonder what the emperor will think when he sees Tear again," Guy said.

"Oh yeah…"

Tear had been staying in Yulia City this whole time. She had not seen anyone but the other residents.

"Well, we'll soon find out." Jade pushed open the doors to the throne room, where Emperor Peony sat, grinning.

"Jade, Guy…and Tear?! Wow, it's been forever!"

Tear nodded. "I-it's good to see you."

Emperor Peony laughed and stood up. "Couldn't hold yourself back, eh? You just had to see me again," he joked.

Tear frowned.

"Your Majesty, please," Jade said. "We've come bearing our reports."

Peony scratched his chin. "Well, what's the big news?"

Jade pushed his glasses up.

"Guy, explain."

Guy sighed. "Well, your majesty, it was just as the letters sent over here said. There were rebels attacking the city and"-

"Y-your majesty!"

Everyone in the room turned to see a soldier running towards them.

"Whoa, calm down. What is it?" Emperor Peony walked towards him.

"Sorry for interrupting Your Majesty's session. But"-

"Let go of me, you scum! You'll regret abandoning the Score!"

A muscular figure appeared at the door, being carried in chains by two guards.

"You!" Guy frowned.

Russell laughed. "You didn't expect me to be alive, eh, kid?"

Guy was in shock. How could he have possibly survived? He could've sworn that he had seen him lying on the floor, his body covered in blood.

"He had these hidden in his robes, Your Majesty!"

Everyone moved forwards to see what was in the soldier's hand.

Tear's eyes widened. "F-Fonstones!"

"No…these are no ordinary fonstones," Jade told her.

Guy picked one up in his hand.

They were silver and sleek. "Just what are these…?"

The Emperor frowned. "I'll hold a summit. It's best if everyone else had a look at these."

Jade nodded. "That would be the best idea."

Tear looked at the stone in her hand. It was really pretty…its body was sleek and smooth.

She felt something rush to her for a split-second. However, it was gone as quickly as it came. Just what was it…?

The summit was to be held in Baticul, and everyone headed for it in the morning.

Emperor Peony had welcomed the others to come with him. They had saved Auldurant, after all.

Tear stood at the railing of The Necromancer, staring out across at the sea.

Seven fonstones had been described in Yulia's records, and the one's they had just uncovered matched none of them.

And then there was that feeling she got when she held them…no, feeling wasn't the right word to describe it. It felt like a sensation, one that resonated through her entire mind, echoed and screamed.

Guy watched her from the deck.

'She's so graceful…' he thought as he stared at her. 'So serene, so…'

He grinned to himself. 'Luke needs to hurry and return to her. It isn't right to make her wait like this.'

"Hey you two!"

Tear and Guy both turned to see Jade emerge from the ships' cabin.

"We should be arriving there shortly," he told them.

Guy nodded.

The trio made their way to the castle, followed by Emperor Peony.

He smiled at everyone they passed on the street.

'Of course,' Guy thought, 'as an emperor he has to appeal to people of other nations as well.'

"Hey, you guys!"

The group saw a girl running towards them before they had even climbed the stairs to the castle. She was short and had black hair tied up into ponytails.

"Well, if it isn't little Anise!" Emperor Peony grinned.

"Hey, I'm not little!"

Guy laughed. "Wow, it's been a while."

She smiled. "Yeah, it's been absolutely horrible without you guys. Oh, Colonel, you look as handsome as ever!"

Jade pushed his glasses up. "Thanks. Coming from you that sure means a lot."

Anise laughed. "Oh stop it. You look great too, Tear."

Tear smiled. "Thanks…"

"So, what have you guys been doing?" Anise asked.

Guy pointed to a medal pinned on his shirt and grinned. "I'm in the Malkuth Imperial Forces now, see? And"- he leaned towards Anise to whisper- "I'm Jade's commander."

Anise's eyes widened. "No way! Is it true, Colonel? Finally bested by a boy ten years younger then you?" she giggled.

Jade pushed his glasses up. "I do believe that we agreed to drop this subject matter, right Commander Cecile?"

Guy laughed. "Yeah, sorry…"

Anise looked up at Tear. "So, what have you been doing?"

"W-well, I"- Tear stammered.

Anise narrowed her eyes. "Probably a slave to Yulia City now, huh?"

"T-that's not"-

"Well, I'm the same, more or less," Anise interrupted. She frowned. "I've been working my butt off to restore the Order. But all everyone ever talks about is The Score… So, what's the deal with these fonstones you found?" A spark seemed to light up in Anise's eye. "I bet they're really valuable! Let me have a look at 'em!"

Jade frowned. "Oh no, we were supposed to take them directly to the summit. No looking until we're there."

"Booo!" Anise jeered. "Well, hurry it up then, let's go!"

Peony nodded. "Yeah, we need to show them to everyone else."

Everyone took their seats around the table in the conference hall.

It seemed that the only ones other than them that had arrived were Astor and Tritheim.

"Oh, hee hee, you've finally showed up." Astor grinned. "I must thank you for helping ward off those bandits earlier."

Guy nodded. "It was no trouble at all."

Along with Jade, Guy had been in charge of helping regions and cities in need. This included Chesodonia, which had faced bandit sieges.

They would rush into the city and loot from merchants and bazaars.

Guy and Jade had put a stop to that, however.

"So the subject is about these supposed 'fonstones' you found, right?" Tritheim asked. "They don't match the descriptions of any of the other seven?"

Peony shook his head. "No, that's why we were hoping we could gather everyone to have a look at them"

The doors to the conference hall suddenly swung open, and Teodoro stepped in. He was followed by King Ingobert and-

"G-Guy! Tear, Jade, Anise!" Natalia walked over to the table.

Guy grinned at her. "Good to see you again, Natalia.

She put a hand on her chest. "My, it's been too long…"

Teodoro took his seat and so did Ingobert and Natalia.

"I'm sure you've been enjoying your job as a princess," Jade asked sarcastically.

Anise narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah…"

Natalia frowned. "You can't even begin to imagine…"

Ingobert turned towards Peony. "Please, let's begin the summit."

"So, let's have a look at these fonstones," Tritheim told him.

Peony nodded and pulled them out of a leather pouch one his guards presented to him.

Everyone leaned forwards to have a look.

"These…!" Tritheim took one from Peony's hand to examine. "These can't be fonstones at all!"

Anise frowned. "Then what are they?" She grabbed one as well. "Oooh, so shiny! I bet I could"-

"Now Anise," Jade warned.

"I don't think that these are fonstones either…" Teodoro said.

Tritheim nodded. "Of course. None of the seven ones recorded in Yulia's books match this one. It must just be a rare mineral, or"-

"No…" Teodoro closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I've read about something like this before…"

"Y-You have?" Tear asked.

Teodoro opened his eyes. "In the Book of anomalies."

"Yulia's Book of Anomalies?!" Tritheim stood up, a look of shock on his face. "But that's"-

"Sacred text, I know" Teodoro responded. "There was a certain thing recorded. The disciple's of Yulia write of a stone she once uncovered. It had a silver body; it's design sleek and smooth. There was even something else…"

Ingobert leaned forwards. "Something else?"

"Yulia felt something strange when she held it for a long period of time… Sort of an image, if you must know."

This had definitely caught the attention of everyone in the room.

Image…? Tear had felt something rush to her when she held one of the stones, but it was only for an instance, and she could not remember what it was.

"Yulia gave it to the Score readers to see. However…" Teodoro frowned. "The rest of the text was missing, I have no way of knowing what happened next."

Ingobert sighed. "So does this mean that we would have to give the stones to our previous Score readers to find out what it is?"

Tritheim reached for one of the stones. "Here, let me take a look." He held a stone in his hand for a while, but nothing happened.

"Well? Do you feel anything?" Anise asked.

Tritheim laughed. "Heh, it's just as I suspected: nothing."

All of a sudden, his eyes seemed to lose their color and he fell back in his chair.

"Whoa, hey!" Anise got out of her chair and helped him up.

"Sorry…."

"What happened?" Teodoro asked. He gasped suddenly. "L-look!"

Black marks had suddenly appeared underneath Tritheim's eyes, close to his cheeks. He reached up to feel them. "Ahhh! It stings…"

"Tell us what happened," Teodoro told him, "you suddenly fell out of your chair"-

"Yes, I know what happened!" Tritheim responded irritated. He took a deep breath. "I saw something…it was Mohs…"

Tears eyes widened. Mohs…?

"What could this mean? Is Mohs still alive?" Guy asked.

"No…this seemed to take some place in the past…" Tritheim put a hand to the scars on his face. "This was back when he had transformed…he was…"

Jade closed his eyes. "Could this mean that the stone can cause one to see the past?"

Ingobert turned towards him. "N-no…you really think so?"

Tritheim waved his hand. "That wasn't the only thing I saw. There was an abundance of scenes, me in my youth, my mother, and my house…. And then there were images that I didn't even remember…they weren't even part of my memory…"

Teodoro nodded. "This is definitely in need of more research, but…" He sighed. "If it can show the past…"

"It'll be just a repeat of The Score," Guy observed.

Peony stood up. "I think it's best if we hand it over to Yulia City. They should be able to research it in more depth." He turned towards Teodoro. "Is that okay with you?"

Teodoro nodded. "Absolutely."

Ingobert stood up to leave. "Very well, let us know what you find out. Just be wary…. we don't want a repeat of The Score."

And with that, everyone but the Natalia, Jade, Guy, Anise, and Tear were left in the room.

"It's great to see you guys again, I"-

Tear drowned out Natalia's words. Thoughts were racing through her mind.

It can show the past….

That meant she could see everything that had happened. She could see if he had-

No…a soldier's duty was…