So, I'm pretty much just updating whenever I feel like it right now. Also, beware what my (and therefore, Kairi's) cruel logic does to Kairi and Sync at the end of this. (You have been warned.) Also, yes, the second half is supposed to be in italics.

Nothing else to say right now.

Enjoy!

"Ask me that again, Anise, and you'll find out why Asch and Sync stop repeating questions after the second time." –Kairi

Anyone who had no idea what was going on would have thought I was the villain and he was the hero. –Kairi

Chapter 2.2 – Race; Double Agent!
Part 11

I scowled, drawing in more Energies than I really needed, if I was being honest with myself. It would be wonderful if my knee would just stay patched up...

Wait a second...

I took a deep breath, drawing in earth Energies and settling them over top of the Energies I'd already unleashed in my knee. I almost grinned when I felt more than saw them reinforcing what I'd done.

"Are you sure you don't want to ride on Tokunaga?" Anise asked for what had to be the eighth time. I groaned.

"Ask me that again, Anise, and you'll find out why Asch and Sync stop repeating questions after the second time," I grumbled, standing up carefully and testing my knee. I nodded to myself, then reluctantly put the knee brace back on. I hated to admit it, but it helped. A lot.

Before Anise could speak again, I had taken off running. This was becoming rather normal, now. I'd run for an hour or so and lose her, then be forced to stop so I could patch my knee up, which would allow her to catch up. Maybe this time I could stay ahead. I wanted to confront Van about something... on my own.

I couldn't help but grin when I realized that not only was my stamina slowly picking back up from where weeks of imprisonment had crushed it, my knee still wasn't hurting again. Yet, at least.

Carefully keeping tabs on the fire in my body and the amount of time that had elapsed, I couldn't help but grin. My impromptu support had worked!

I was just outside Kaitzur, almost four days after the attack on the Tartarus and at least an hour ahead of Anise, when I spotted him. I slowed, catching my breath while keeping him within my sight. Once I was sure I was ready, I stepped out of the trees I'd been hiding in.

"Van!"

The man froze, turning around as if he'd seen a ghost. Or heard one, at least. And the moment his eyes locked on mine, I knew.

I frowned, walking forward. "So, Zion didn't tell you."

Van took a deep breath. "He said you had been taken care of," he stated. I smirked.

"I didn't appreciate being kidnapped, nor do I like correcting everyone who thought I was dead. It's very... inconvenient," I said.

The two of us stood there, and to any stranger, it must have looked like some bad romance, what with the sun setting off to the side and the way Van couldn't seem to regain his mental footing. So, while he was still rather disoriented, I crossed my arms.

"Where is he?"

Van blinked, then glared. "Asch is no longer any of your concern," he said. I shook my head, smirk never once shifting.

"Not Asch. I know where he was four days ago, and there are two places he could be now. He's either still locked on the Tartarus, in which case he'll be waiting for me to come back and get him out, or he's with my brother and his replica, making his way toward us right now," I said. Van looked distinctly unsettled by the level of certainty in my voice.

"Then I suggest asking your sister where she put his grave," he said, trying to pick himself back up. I sighed, pretending to be annoyed with where this was going.

"Oh, don't worry. I have every intention of visiting Sync's grave. I owe him an apology, as well as Zion's head on a stake. And I know where that bastard is, too," I said, my voice gaining a harsh undertone. I uncrossed my arms and settled into a slightly more aggressive stance. Almost three weeks should have gotten me something, but now I had only one choice. "No. What I want to know... is where you've put Reighn Aurelius."

The way Van flinched spoke volumes, and I narrowed my eyes. "Oh, you didn't," I said, letting myself sound excited at the end. I laughed, and Van just looked more uncomfortable. Anyone who had no idea what was going on would have thought I was the villain and he was the hero. "He left! He knew what you were doing was wrong and he left!"

Van's discomfort melted into anger. "No thanks to you!" he snapped, drawing his sword. I wasn't sure whether to run or outright grin. And yes, I know I'm a little (a lot) mentally unstable. "You're the reason for every wrench that's been thrown in my plans in the last five months!"

I was suddenly very glad that I'd had the foresight to strap on both of my weapons that morning, because Van was now charging right for me. I met him almost in the middle with a Guardian Field, successfully catching him off guard.

"So, Asch has taught you strike artes," Van stated coldly. I retreated a few yards, already collecting up fonons. The good thing about using Energies to do that is that I can collect up fonons in one spot, then bounce back over to them and use them all at once to speed-cast. I'd left the spot where Van was currently standing, and just as I'd hoped, he ran at me again. I shot off to my right, not wanting to get too close.

"I'm starting to think you might have been better off with the bow," Van commented. I smirked, now standing on top of my little hotspot.

"Whatever... O flames of hell, cremate mine enemies in a cage of fire! Infernal Prison!"

Van looked utterly shocked by how quickly I'd cast the arte, and the fact that the flames were blue probably didn't help. I was already rushing forward while Van tried to recover from the high-leveled arte. I wasn't planning on letting up on him any time soon, but he was right about one thing. I would have been better served with the bow.

Van struck out with the handle of his sword, and I shot my right hand out, letting the momentum push me back and then rolling off to the side where Van couldn't hit me as quickly. Then I got to my feet and dashed off, making a run around him while leaving a mass of sun Energies along my path.

"I'm getting the feeling that switching for the bow right now isn't going to be much help," Van said as I slipped my sword back into its sheath. I almost freaked out when I saw how close he was, but months of training with Sync had me ducking and reaching out with a fonon-powered, life-stealing palm strike.

"Reaper's Toll!"

It wasn't until after I'd slipped away, courtesy of Van being startled yet again, that I realized I hadn't used Energies to force the fonons into cooperating.

I stopped in my bubble of fonons again and started casting, trying not to let that thought overtake my mind. "O frigid blades, pour forth!" Van cursed, attempting to get out of the way. "Icicle Rain!"

Unfortunately, I was still in speed-cast mode, so the arte landed... well, mostly on top of him. Then I took a second to reach out, and I gasped.

Fonons! I could actually feel them now, touch them... control them!

"Son-of-a—!"

I ducked, unleashing another Reaper's Toll and racing away to pull my bow and a set of arrows out. Then I turned, firing an arrow before I had even stopped running.

Van batted the first one away, dodged the second, but took the third to the hand. Not exactly where I was aiming, but oh well.

I'll admit it right now. I was reaching further out of my league with Van than I had the first time I fought Asch. And that fight my life hadn't been on the line, since we were on the second plane. This fight... This one was so much different. I was more skilled, but so was my opponent. I had something to fight for, but so did Van. So there was nothing left to do.

We kept this up for a few minutes, me racing around and firing my arrows, while Van chased me around, the longer blade of his sword giving him an edge that Asch didn't have. I was covered in cuts, Van was bleeding from a dozen little holes my arrows had put in him.

I jumped back a few times and glanced around. I could run, I knew I could, but my knee was starting to hurt again. How long would it be before Van caught up to me?

My knee decided the battle for me when I tried to run, buckling and shooting fire and needles up my leg. I might have cried out, I don't know. I just remember hitting the ground, again.

*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*

I wasn't in any hurry. I'm not sure what there was to hurry about, actually. My memories were fuzzy, not really there. I was wandering around rather pointlessly. I had nowhere I needed to go, nothing I needed to do... That I was aware of, at least. Nothing seemed to stay in my mind for long. Odd. It reminded me of... hmm... something. Akzeriuth? Was that it?

I shrugged it off and sat down. I was surrounded by waving grass and the night sky, nothing else, it seemed. It felt somewhat like a dream, where there was nothing to be done, no danger, nothing but the grassy plains and the night sky.

The empty black sky...

As if listening to my thoughts, the heavens erupted, millions of stars stretching as far as I could see. I smiled, seeing each star as if it were so much closer, as if I could simply reach up into the heavens and pluck one of the sparkling lights out of the sky. I flopped down onto my back, slipping my arms under my head comfortably and just laying there, wondering idly if I'd ever had a dream like this before.

I watched the night sky above me and couldn't help but relax, taking in the familiar sights of Cygnus, Lyra, and Aquila above my head. I saw someone walking toward me from my right, even as I closed my eyes.

The person laid down next to me in the grass, the rustling seeming somewhat muted. I wondered if this was a memory, rather than a dream, from one of the times I had meditated under the leaves of the forest in an attempt at falling asleep. So, it was either Asch or Sync whose breath now augmented the light breeze dancing in the grass.

Probably Sync, I thought to myself. Asch only joined me once every five or so times I did this, while Sync took up my silent invitation two out of five, three after he had found out where I was really from. It was fun, telling him all the things I had learned in Astronomy. I'd point out a new constellation once in a while, if my subconscious decided to show us a different part of the sky, but it was usually the late summer/early autumn night that surrounded us.

That was fine by me. I always did love seeing Cygnus. It would make me think of the story of Swan Lake. I'd told that to Asch once, but Sync had already fallen asleep by then.

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I had fallen asleep before I could finish.

I smiled a bit and started talking, telling the story just as I remembered it. I was never once interrupted, and it made me wonder if I was just talking to thin air. Maybe the person I'd seen was just a trick of my mind? I would think, if it was in fact Sync next to me, that he would be asking me countless questions. Probably starting with 'what brought this on?'

So, Asch? No, he'd have said something about hearing this before already. Odd, I didn't think I'd ever brought someone else here... So, probably a dream, since it didn't seem to be a memory. But, who could it be? Dark?

No, he'd be scoffing at the idea of unicorns and fairies.

Only one person I knew would be this quiet while I was telling this particular story.

Reighn. But that made even less sense. I'd never brought him here before, nor did he know about my past. Which left me once again wondering just who was next to me.

I was just finishing the tale when my companion finally spoke up, revealing his identity.

"I fell asleep when you started telling that story last time."

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Don't feel bad. I fell asleep somewhere in the middle... Around the time Odette was learning to dance. If I made it any further than that, I don't remember," I admitted. "I missed you, Sync."

Sync chuckled. "It was barely a month. I survived a year without you and Asch before, remember?"

"Only because of Cantabile."

Sync and I laughed.

Then, after a few minutes...

"We'll be together for a long time, right?"

I smiled. "I hope so. I didn't go to the trouble of digging you out of that snow bank because I wanted you to die," I replied sarcastically. Sync didn't reply right away.

"I'm sorry."

I opened my eyes, blinking a few times before turning my head to look at the fourteen-year-old. "What for?"

Sync shrugged. "Where are we, by the way?"

I frowned at his abrupt change of subject before sitting up and looking around. It took me a moment to realize exactly where we were, since this place looked almost identical to the dreamscape I'd created outside St. Binah. "The third plane..."

"There's a third?"

I couldn't help but crack a smile. "Yeah... The first plane belongs to the body, the second to the soul, the third to the mind. It's supposed to be impossible to reach the third without..." I trailed off, my smile fading.

"Without?" Sync prompted me. And suddenly I realized this was neither a memory, nor a dream, because in no dream would Sync have asked me to complete that sentence, and I knew I had never spoken of the third plane with him before.

I laid back down, pretending to be completely relaxed. "I wonder if I could reach Asch from here..." I mumbled. Sync hummed.

"Maybe you can. You found me, after all," he said. I couldn't help it, I smiled a bit at his innocence.

"I don't think it works like that," I admitted. "Asch has one thing we don't anymore."

Sync rolled over to look at me. "What's that?"

I closed my eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. "Life."

"Life?"

I shouldn't have expected the tears to stay put. They hadn't after my father's death, they hadn't after I'd learned of Sync's death, so I guess I shouldn't have asked that of them after my own.

"Yes... At least... He's still alive."

Fun Fact:I have no idea how much I played around with this idea before throwing the third plane in. (In the original version, it doesn't show up until An Echo Through Time, no thanks to Selenia, Selenia, and Sync being strange.)