A/N: I'm sorry I haven't been updating for two weeks now. The week after I last updated, I had finals to study for. I go to a residential highschool, so I had to move all my junk from the dorms back to my room at home. The sorting of everything took two days, and I was utterly exhausted. I truly started this chapter about three-four days ago. I know I promised someone to have this out by Tuesday... but it seems I've misjudged the amount of time it takes me to smooth out the little bumps along the way. But here it is! Chapter 9!

Chapter 9

-Interlude-

The sly wench! Victoria sent some of the best fighters in the nearby towns to get her. Out of six, only one returned…with a severe concussion that rendered him completely unable to express himself clearly, rambling on and on about being hit in the head and seeing his companions all dead. (a/n: to be nerdy for once – he has aphasia from the concussion :D)

He had no remembrance of the fight…only a blurry image of his club being knocked from him. I didn't know what to make of it. It had to be the amulet – in trying to save itself, it also saved the girl. There was no other way a girl could single-handedly defeat those men… I simply refuse to believe it.

I paced around the room. The more I learned about the girl, the more I was sure her last name was Swan. Bella Swan – Isabella Swan. The English were always on about having a name that rolled off the tongue… this one fits well.

I went to many lengths to discover her surname. I would not want to make a mistake and let the real one slip through. No, I've once made that mistake. It won't happen again. There was one old man who was particularly interested in why I was so keen in my questioning. The sense of her was very strong around him, as if she was very close. I pressed on ruthlessly, first assuming that all my suspicions were wrong – that Bella was his daughter. When I threatened to kill her however, he buffed, saying that I could take her life, for she had no family left. His words rang with truth, even though he tried to act as if he was buffing so I could take his life instead.

It didn't work. There were times when I lost sight of my goal and cursed my half-existence. Half of me provided all the power I could ever want; the other half forced me to obey the physical laws of the living. I could not openly discharge the power. I had the potential to summon a fireball that could destroy the entire port, but I was limited to only emitting sparks from my fingers barely strong enough to start a fire. All because of that cursed amulet and those cursed wizards who made it!

In the end, I spared him. He couldn't die while he still had secrets that he kept.

It was then that I launched my campaign to meet the girl myself. I recruited as many of the street tramps as I could to track her, follow her wherever she went. They treated it like a game they always played on her. She never failed to point them out, either by flicking a pebble at their heads with unerring accuracy or somehow sneak up behind them to tap them on the shoulders. I had Victoria stalk her once. Bella was with a man; she had grabbed the man's hand and pointed where Victoria was hiding.

On the day of the festival, however, I lost her trail completely. Her guard seemed to be down when I finally found her, or perhaps I was too good. She wandered from the park, deep in thought. In the hubbub of the crowd, she never noticed that I had one boy follow her. I paid him well; he left a trail that I could follow, but in the end, she still caught him.

When I caught up to them, she had him pinned against the wall, questioning him. He has to die was the first thought that came to my mind. Not even thinking about the fact that her body blocked his, I threw a dart at him, instilling a small amount of power to ensure accuracy. It could've killed the two of them had she not tumbled away. I heard the distinct moment when the boy died – that click of the gates as it opened and closed behind the newcomer. I turned back to look at her. She was staring straight at me even though I knew it was impossible to see me in the shadows.

"You didn't have to kill him," she said, her face devoid of emotions. Knowing I was caught, I grinned to myself and stepped out of the shadows.

"Well met, Isabella Swan," I said, chuckling. "You are one sharp lass." I looked at the boy's crumpled form. "That boy deserved to die. He was too loose-tongued." My eyes were trained on hers then. Not a flicker of surprise flashed through her eyes. Testing her, I sent out another dart. She deflected it as if it was a fly; the metal object clanged to the ground, ringing like a bell.

"Who are you?"

"If I told you, I would have spoiled the fun, wouldn't I?"

"Then I suppose you won't tell me why you are so keen to seek me either." I just smiled in reply.

"You see, Bella, I was very intrigued by you." Her eyebrow changed, but she remained otherwise still. "You had either consciously or unknowingly deflected all my plans to hurt you in any way." Here, I stopped, smiling widely at her. A slight tremor passed through her still form. "Tonight, you won't be so lucky." I laughed as she shifted her feet, attempting to prepare for the assault coming. She had no way to escape. Limited as my powers were, they could be channeled into a sharp weapon. I will not miss any of my swings at her…

-End interlude-

Cursing under my breath, I leaned heavily against a wall, trying to breathe as quietly as I could but failing miserably. My hand was on my arm where an open cut was still bleeding profusely. Clenching my teeth against the pain, I applied more pressure on it in order to staunch the bleeding. The smell was incredibly nauseating. Sweat rolled down my cheeks as I bit my lip to keep from fainting. I had to get away. I doubt a strong knock to the head would hold him back for long.

Stumbling along the alleyway, my mind flashed through the battle. No matter how carefully I parried and blocked, his sword always ended up at least scratching me, if not more. There were bruises and cuts all up and down my legs, although (for once) I was glad that the dress was voluminous enough to take the edge off the hits. Had I been in trousers, I doubted I'd still be in one piece at the moment.

He seemed so invincible. Though I knew better than show my surprise, I couldn't help feel despair when I made to slice his throat, only to feel no resistance against my blade when I cut through him. It was like he wasn't wholly there… as if he wasn't all very alive – substantial. It was a true miracle that I had tripped over a garbage bin, somehow knocking something over that ended up dropping an enormous chunk of cemented bricks onto his head. He didn't bleed; rather, his eyes seemed to turn distant and he sank to the ground in a dead faint.

Curiosity had burned through me, but I turned away from temptation and ran as fast as my bruised and hurting body could allow.

Bursting into Leon's small house, I went completely still. Leon was huddled in the corner, mumbling incoherently to himself; the furniture and everything was in shambles, thrown haphazardly this way and that. At my entrance, he looked up. His eyes were bloodshot; dried blood clung to his matted hair. There were bruises all over his face – he looked no better than me.

"B-Bella?" he said in a bare, husky whisper. Stumbling, I went to the water well and brought him a cup of water, which he drank from greedily.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice barely rising from a whisper too.

"Squirt," he answered, a hint of a smile passing through his features. "Where's the amulet your father left you?" His demeanor suddenly changed from light hearted to serious, almost panicked. I dug the blue heart-shaped amulet from beneath my corset, showing it to him. To my surprise, it felt amazingly warm. He relaxed visibly as he stroked the small heart lovingly. "This amulet has a great story behind her, hun. I didn't want you to have to protect her, but you are the next bearer of her. Keep her safe with your life."

I was about to ask him why when he stopped me, continuing. "She is a locket and a Gate. There's a key-bearer out there in the world somewhere who has the key to open the locket and bring the both of you riches beyond imagination. But there are also people who seek her to destroy the Gate – a gate that keeps powerful beings from taking over the land in their clutches and from power-hungry men who seek to become those powerful beings."

His voice suddenly dropped; his pace quickening. "Most people never reach this last step – the opening of the Gate. Their power-lust makes them break the rules of the living and they are soon consumed and dead. Someone, however, has reached this step despite the apparent impossibility of it and knows that the Swans are the latest bearers of the amulet. Keep your surname a deadly secret – that would be your first protection. And guard her with your life, for I could no longer do so."

Tears streamed from my eyes as I suddenly figured out what he was going to do. "You want me to escape as fast as I could while you stay here and lead them on false trails." It was not a question. He simply nodded.

"I had to give your father some sort of explanation and do as he would've done."

"And there's nothing I can do to convince you to escape with me." I struggled to keep my tears in and my voice even. I shook from the pain of my wounds and the realization that I was never going to see Leon again. He just shook his head, bringing me for a bruising hug.

And then he brusquely pushed me away. "Go! He will not be long in coming here."

As if driven by an unknown force, I sprang into my room, ripped my dress from my body, and donned on a shirt and trousers while working my bandana over my hair. With a last look at Leon and the house, I grabbed my satchel and ran for the docks, ignoring all the protests my body was giving me.

--

I woke up with a start, immediately drawing out my dagger. Through bleary eyes, I saw my surroundings. I was on a ship. The ship was on the sea. But which ship? I dug within my mind to search what had happened last night. I ran into a man who was not hurt by my dagger; Leon told me to leave port as fast as possible. I had run all the way to the docks, getting on the first ship that I could see in the departing docks. It was the only ship tied up by the departing docks.

I tried to roll over, groaning when all my muscles protested. I still had bruises all over, but the various cuts were no longer bleeding. The wound on my arm throbbed as I made into a sitting position, leaning heavily on the crates beside me.

That was when I noticed what had woken me. Ten paces away stood Alice, her eyes wide and her mouth formed into an 'o' of shock. Grimacing slightly, I croaked, "Good morning." My voice was hoarse. The sound barely made its way to my own ears. However, she was started out of her state of shock, quickly kneeling down beside me.

"What had happened?"

"I got caught in a brawl. Don't worry about it," I replied. She wasn't convinced, as if she knew I was lying. I tensed as she approached, but she kept quiet. "What time is it?" I asked as she started to check my wounds.

"Dawn," she answered simply. "The ship left port twenty minutes ago. I should warn you that…" She didn't get to finish her sentence. At that moment, Jasper came up behind Alice, his eyes widening to see me in such a condition.

Behind him was the rest of the new crew.

Oh god.

Standing barely out of my line of sight was Mikael Newton – one of my mortal enemies. He claimed as much fame and credit as he could without actually doing; and whatever he actually did do, he usually messed up so much that others had to clean up after him.

The dislike was mutual. No matter how great or heroic he claimed himself to be, he never succeeded in claiming any one of my deeds. It included, at least, the ability to disarm him in one swing. For that reason, he tried to take as much advantage over me as he could, always failing and humiliating himself in the worst sort of way.

He shifted slightly, bringing his eyes to meet mine. Dull, emotionless eyes suddenly sparked with fury. As if on fire, he drove himself in front of Jasper, clumsily drawing out his sword. Chest huffing in sudden anger, he yelled, "YOU!"

"Aye, me. Is there anything more intelligent your impeded mind could command you to say?"

He struggled for a comeback, his mouth opening and closing like that of a goldfish. I just smirked, lying still as Alice, who remained oblivious to the crowd, tried to bandage the cuts on my arms.

Mike turned away. "Stand up and fight me," he commanded. "I will not be called taking advantage of your weakness by slaying you as such."

"You? You want me to stand up and fight?" I snorted. "You're not worth it."

"You-"

"Me what? If that's all you can say, you're even dimmer than I first thought you to be." He made to charge at me then, but Jasper held him back.

"You can stop taunting him, Key," he said to me with a meaningful look.

"You can let him go, Jasper. He won't harm me," I answered. Jasper didn't move for a moment, struggling to hold the wiggling man in his grasp. I raised an eyebrow at him; he let go.

Mike fought with the air for a long moment before finally realizing that he was free. With a fierce grunt, he came charging at me.

"Wait!" shouted a voice. It was Alice. Until that moment, I had forgotten she was still checking my wounds. "You have a sword to bully a wounded lad without an inch of steel. Your fame would not go well with that on your record."

That stopped him dead. Huffing, he turned his back to me as if in an attempt to block out temptation. "You choose any sort of weapon that is available, and then we fight."

I thanked Alice with my eyes, but motioned for her to move away. I had to do this in the simplest way, although I hadn't expected the fight to be so soon. "I shan't need an inch of steel to fight you," I said, my voice barely rising above my whisper.

That was when I saw him. Edward. He was standing on the balcony above the cabin, overlooking the entire deck. His startling green eyes were narrowed, his face emotionless as he watched the events that played out. But when he noticed that I saw him, his eyes showed such a tenderness that made my stomach churn. It was as if he recognized me…and yet that was as near impossible as one could get. Alice was a different story, I convinced myself.

A screeching war cry brought me out of my musings. Mikael was charging at me, his sword held as if he wanted to chop me in half. I easily tumbled away; it lodged itself deep in the crate I had leaned against. With a grunt, he pulled it out and charged again. Another roll, and his sword missed again. He was using as much strength as he could the entire time; I just rolled from side to side. I was so focused on his next move that I didn't realize we were tumbling onto the main deck until I actually found myself in the middle of a wide span of area. It was much harder to dodge hits in an empty area… in my current condition, nearly impossible.

Mike, however, was tiring. His arm movements were too wild, too sloppy. He seemed to realize that and changed tactics. Brandishing his sword again, he began to use wrist movements to control the weapon. He came at me with it, but his strength was not as it used to be.

I leaned back as the sword went for my neck; it swiped a bare inch above my nose. The cut on my arm throbbed at the exertion. I knew it must be bleeding again from the smell that suddenly saturated the air. Biting down on my tongue to distract me from the pain elsewhere, I watched Mike as he spun and performed a complicated series of moves before aiming. As if in slow motion, his image split into two before coming together again. I barely had time to lean to the side and catch his blade between my fingers. With a sharp wrench, I broke the six inches of the tip off; in the same move, my wrist twisted and the tip made a deep gash into his arm.

His momentum was too great to stop. Wincing from the effort, I kicked him as his body pummeled towards me, the impact jarring my joints into sharp protests. His body, however, tumbled four feet away. A sharp crack signified that he must have broken some bone. I no longer cared which bone, or whether I've rendered him paralyzed. Black spots appeared in my vision even as I struggled to keep consciousness. Voices yelled out my name, but I could no longer recognize them.

And the world turned completely black.

So many things happened...I feel like I'm rushing the story along or something. We get to hear the tale of the amulet and its importance from Leon's perspective, and Bella gets hurt a little bit more than I originally planned... oops. I'm hoping that the next chapter will be out by next week... but I don't think I'm going to make any promises...since I've known to guess very wrongly when it comes to time.

Somehow, I think after all this, Bella's going to undergo some slight character changes... but not sure how it's going to turn out :D

And as always, please leave a review?

--Cathy