I gave Crystal a venomous look before turning my back. I suddenly realized that for some strange reason, even though she had drawn her sword to me, I didn't keep my deadly promise.

I felt the slight anger that had arose when she confronted me drift slowly away. Instead, something else filled the spot. But the feeling passed.

I stared into the trees around us, reflecting back on my past. I could see into the hearts of my companions, and not a one was fully human. That was a very good thing.

I don't enjoy killing the innocent, but in my eyes, there are few that are truly innocent. In my opinion, there was only one human who was totally innocent and received my respect.

I spat on the ground to keep a tear from coming to my eye. My hatred towards mankind is not a blind rage. My father… and my mother… I was deprived of a family, a normal life. I still remember the exhilaration I felt when the Diamond Star cut through human flesh for the first time in my hands.

I couldn't help but give a small smirk when I thought of the woman who had come earlier. But I must admit, she had remarkable timing. I had already decided that I needed to sacrifice a Sacred Sister by the will of the prophecy.

I suddenly realized that Ahrena was sitting on a rock nearby, watching me intently. I smiled softly and walked over, pulling my hood tight over my face as my movement attracted the attention of Crystal's friend, Alex. I would never be comfortable without my hood.

I sat beside the red-haired girl and returned her glance. "You've been staring at me for a while now. Is there something you need?"

She looked at me with a soft gaze and nodded. "I wanted to talk to you. I need to know something. Why did you bring me with you? Is it because I'm a dragoon? Is that the only reason for my being with you?"

I looked back at her and felt my resolution crumble. "Ahrena, you're the only friend that I've ever had. I can't lie to you. It is the only reason. But it's not because I don't want to be with you, it's just… I don't want to see you hurt again." I said quietly, letting her take my hand softly and place it over her heart.

"Red, you're the only reason I'm still alive. You saved me back then." She whispered.

I pulled my hand away and stood. "Ahrena, don't you understand? My mother and father were killed because of me! A whole town was destroyed because of me! So many people have died because of me! You… nearly died because of me." I shook my head softly. "Sometimes I envy you. You're free to make your own choices. I'm bound to my lot in life until the day I die, which would have been a while ago if it hadn't been for this accursed sword. I can't even end my own life to escape the torment of it all. I don't want you near me. It's too dangerous."

I turned and walked away, shutting out the sound of her tears. I had to think about what to do next.

What was he thinking? I may not be skilled in some of these matters, but how could he give her an answer like that? How could he say something like that right there to her face? I just couldn't understand what she saw in the man. How could she even consider him as her friend? He's killed two of the most important people in the world, along with a Sacred Sister.

I glared at him and saw the icy shimmer in his eyes coming from beneath the cloak. But there was a strange, confused sparkle to them. With a single look I understood that he didn't know what calmed him down.

"Crystal? Is something wrong?" Alex asked.

I shook my head. "No, nothing's wrong. Just thinking."

There was a sudden commotion and we looked over to where Red was. He had his sword held against the neck of a strange man while Norris attempted to explain.

"You're human, are you not?" Red asked savagely.

"Y-yeah. I just f-followed that guy." The man didn't seem very old, in fact, I'd say he was more of a boy then a man.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you." Red spoke with a tone of deathly silence.

"I know what you are! You're all dragoons!" The boy spoke frantically.

Red paused for a moment and slowly sheathed his sword. "How do you know this, boy?"

"I don't know how it works. I just get feelings about people, and I've never been wrong." The boy replied.

"Prove it to me, and I'll let you live." Red replied, putting his hand on the hilt of his blade again.

"Well, I get the feeling that you're not human." The boy said, sounding very uneasy.

"Then what am I?" Red asked, showing obvious constraint.

"You're not a wingly either. You're both." The boy spoke softly, crossing his fingers and closing his eyes.

"Fine, you may live." Red said. Then he gave a small smirk. "I would have let you live anyway, Dragoon of the Blazing Tornado. But you will be staying with us for some time. What is your name, boy?"

The boy seemed very surprised by the comment. "M-my name's Jonathan. Jonathan Potra."

Seeing as Red wasn't in a good position with the boy after the whole sword at the throat business, Ahrena took over the questioning. It turned out that followed us when he felt Red and Ahrena's dragon spirits. He was quite young, about sixteen, and I suspected that he had been known as a thief on occasion.

Later, after Jonathan had gone to sleep, I heard Red talking quietly to himself. "Hmm. This could complicate things. How can one of the descendants of those dragoons who fought humanity be a human? It makes no sense."

Interested in what he was saying, I moved a little closer so that I could eavesdrop, but not appear as if I was. Red continued mumbling to himself. "The prophecy states that seven shall rise up against humans again. But how could he fight his own species? How can even ask him to fight with us?" Red smashed his fist on the rock he sat on. "Damn it! A prophecy that's older then time itself might be obliterated because of this boy!"

He paused for a second, turning toward the trees. His eyes sparkled red for a second before he took a deep breath, shook his head, and stood. "Blues… What is he doing here?" He whispered. He walked toward the edge of the clearing and stopped.

He turned toward the camp we had set up and looked up at the moonlit sky. He walked slowly over to where I stood and reached into his robes as he had done every time he drew a weapon.

I drew my sword in an instant and stared coldly at him. He laughed lightly and pushed the blade aside. He pulled the magical sword known as the Dragon Buster from his cloak. He looked it over carefully and turned the blade toward himself. He handed me the hilt of the sword and nodded.

As he turned to walk into the forest, he spoke. "Crystal, tell Ahrena that I'll meet up with you in Kazaz. I have some unfinished business to take care of. I'm putting you in charge for now. Take care of them. And you know, you really should break that habit of eavesdropping, or get a bit better at it. That kind of eavesdropping will get you any information you want from someone like a king, but it's a far cry away from being suitable against me." He then disappeared into the forest.

I looked at the magical sword I now held. "What does this mean?" I whispered quietly.

I waited until the morning before telling Ahrena and the others that Red had gone. "Red said we should go to Kazaz. I don't doubt that the fool wants to drag Imperial Sandora into this. He said something about some guy named Blues. Do you know anything about it Ahrena?"

I stepped back. "He can't! No! He'll be killed!"

"Who is it? Who's this Blues?" Crystal asked.

"I'm not exactly sure how they are related or even if they are, but Red told me about Blues once. Red's not even half as strong as him. Blues and Red are basically complete opposites. They hate each other, but they're connected somehow. Red says that they look and act almost exactly the same, but they have very different goals. If Red fights him, he'll be killed." I said with a quivering tone.

Crystal nodded and smirked. "Well, that will solve one of my problems then."

That set me off. I swung at her and hit her hard across the face. "Don't you ever talk bad about Red!" With that, I turned and ran to a large rock nearby and sat on it, sobbing softly. I barely noticed Norris as he rubbed his cheek.

"You idiot," I whispered softly to myself, "why can't you just stay with me for once? What if I never see you again?"

The new guy, Jonathan, came over and sat on the rock beside me. He gave a soft smile before turning to me. "Hey, chin up. That Red guy is pretty strong, I can feel it. We shouldn't have anything to worry about." He said softly, lifting my chin up so that I was no longer staring at my feet.

"Didn't you hear me? Blues is a lot stronger then Red. Red is the only friend I've ever had. If something happens to him…" I wasn't able to finish the sentence. What if something does happen?

"Hey, it's all right. Look, I can feel it. He'll be all right. But in the meantime," He held out his hand to me and helped me up, "let's be friends."

"Friends? But I'm a…" I began.

"A wingly? And I'm a human? So what? Red's parents were a wingly and a human." He then blushed brilliantly. "Er, that's probably not the best example."

I laughed softly. "It's all right. You're one of us now, so we might as well be friends."

I talked with him for a while before I felt up to talking with the others. I walked over to where Crystal was talking with Norris and Alex. She gave me an indifferent look before turning back to the other two.

"Look, I'm sorry I hit you. I don't lose it like that often. But don't ever talk about Red like that." I said softly.

"I don't know what you see in that man. He goes through life with out a single care for others." Crystal replied.

"No. He does care. He doesn't show it. He nearly died when we were younger. He nearly died protecting me." I said softly, a tear coming to my eye as I remembered the past.

"I just don't understand how you can see any good in a man like that." Crystal said, nearly repeating what she said before. She then walked away from the rest of us.

Norris shook his head. "You really should try to stay on her good side. But I think I'll stay on your good side too. You didn't have to hit her so hard."

"It's just, she seemed to enjoy the idea of Red dying. I couldn't hold back." I said softly.

"Do you love Red?" Jonathan asked softly.

"Me? Love Red? No. He's my best friend in the world, but I don't think I'd be able to take the stress. What with him doing idiotic things like this all the time, I'd have gray hair from the stress. And I like my hair the way it is. The strange thing is that I care for him as more then a friend, but less than a lover. But I'm not sure if that feeling's mutual." I said, laughing slightly at the idea.

Crystal then came over. "I've thought about it, and I guess we'll do what Red said. Pack up. We're heading to Kazaz."

Shana was sobbing only slightly now. We had managed to calm her down quite a bit now. The death of Miranda had struck us all hard. It was almost as bad as when Lavitz died. I thought back a few years and remembered that day. I remembered Lloyd standing with the Dragon Buster in Lavitz chest. I remembered how Dart, Rose, Shana, and Haschel had looked so shocked by what happened. I was forced to watch my loyal friend die. Now it was happening again.

A dragoon, dead. One of us. What's stopping them from killing the rest of us? I shook my head. "Don't worry guys. We'll get them. They've gone too far. We have to avenge those that have died already so we can prevent more deaths."

"Spoken like a true king, Albert." Haschel said softly.

We finally began to walk again. The whole time I felt nervous. I felt like somebody was watching us. I told this to the others and they all agreed, saying they felt it too. We stopped and looked around a few times, but we found nothing.

"I don't get it. I know someone is out there. But who? And why are they watching us?" Dart asked quietly.

There was a sudden sound of a cracking twig nearby. We all turned and saw a man. He looked familiar, like somebody I once knew. But that person was dead. And this man looked a lot worse for the wear.

Seeing the confused looks on our faces, the man stepped forward. "Don't you recognize me? It's me, Lloyd."

We all jumped when he said that. "What? But you… How can you… You're dead!" Dart spoke quickly.

"No, not at all. Quite the contrary really. You see, I had been knocked unconscious in my fight with Melbu Frahma. I awoke while you were fighting him. I dragged myself down to the stream in the moon and regained my strength. Then I flew away. I realize now that the Utopia I wanted has been here the whole time. And I understand that a dark robed man and my niece are disrupting that." Lloyd said calmly.

"You mean, you want to help us? One of our friends was killed by the dark robed man you refer to. Along with princess Emille and Queen Teresa." I said, hoping he would help us.

"Hmm, so he's moving faster then I thought. All right. I'll help you. Maybe we'll be able to fix the problem." He said.

We followed the path until we reached the road blocks. The one to Mt. Mortal Dragon said they hadn't seen a thing, and the same was with the guards along the path to Neet. But several corpses were along the path to Furni. We knew where they had gone, and what country they were heading for next.