Matarra: *sulking*

Alit: Is she really that bummed that no one reviewed the last chapter?

Gilag: Yup.

Matarra: I'm beginning to wonder if anyone reads this story anymore.

Dumon: You can't get reviews every chapter so don't cry over spilled milk *takes a sip of coffee*

Matarra: *slyly* Is that what you say whenever Merag spends more time with Kite than you?

Dumon: *spits out coffee* Wha- NO! I swear I am not jealous! Honest!

Alit, Gilag, and Matarra: Suuure you aren't.

Dumon: Seriously! Why would I care if she teaches him to ice skate or lets him buy her ice cream or-

Matarra: You two want to bet how long he'll be ranting? I'm betting 5 bucks he'll keep going for an hour.

Alit: Not taking you up on that. You'd win.

May blinked and groaned. She quickly tried to assess her surroundings. She was in a bedroom in a well made bed with plenty of blankets and pillows. She quickly sat up and her arm hit a glass of water on the nightstand causing it to spill all over her shirt. She yelped as the icy liquid seeped through her shirt and onto her skin. She heard footsteps and Misael appeared in the doorway holding a bowl of soup. He was tense but relaxed once he saw that she was alright. He walked over and sat down on her bed.

"You do know you're supposed to drink the water, not give yourself a bath." Misael said although May couldn't tell from his tone if he was kidding or not.

"Where am I now? It feels like every time I close my eyes, I wake up in a different place." May asked.

"At the moment, you are in your new house in Heartland." Misael replied.

May blinked. "My... new house?"

"Yeah, I have a few connections and this house is all yours." Misael handed May the soup and a spoon.

"R-really?!" May asked.

"Did Tchoua make you deaf?" Misael asked playfully then his expression darkened. "She didn't make you deaf, did she?"

"No, I can hear you just fine." May replied. She tried to bring the spoon to her lips but it fell and clattered on side of the bowl. Misael sighed and took the bowl and spoon and started feeding May the soup.

"I don't-" May was broken off as Misael shoved the spoon in her mouth. May rolled her eyes and swallowed. "You're my little brother. I-" another spoonful and swallow, "should be feeding you soup when you're sick or hurt instead of you-" another spoonful and swallow, "taking care of me. I'm fine!"

Misael gave her a look. "You couldn't even hold the spoon. I don't define that as fine."

May was about to argue some more but his words brought back the memory of Mike, no, Miran, lying on the floor. "What about Mike, or Miran I suppose? Is he okay? Please tell me he's okay!"

Misael looked away. "Dumon's taking care of him. He said he'd let me know if there were any changes in his condition."

"Who's Dumon?" May asked.

"That would be me." May started and her eyes widened at the voice in the doorway but Misael looked up calmly. May saw the grey-haired boy with glasses who had released her from that bottle and gave her shelter when Callum had- she broke off that thought because of the memories associated with it.

"Oh! So that's your name!" May blushed in embarrassment.

Dumon smiled but his smile didn't reach his eyes. "Excuse me, I need to talk to Misael alone for a moment if that's alright. It's about Miran."

May started. "Is he alright?"

Dumon rubbed his neck. "Well, he should be soon but..."

Misael handed May the soup and spoon. "I'll be back in a moment." he turned around and followed Dumon out of the doorway and closed the door behind him. They went into the living room so May couldn't hear them. "What's wrong with Miran?"

Dumon bit his lip. "I ran some tests on him to get his unique energy signature to make sure the baria crystal could be used as effectively as possible on him and... well see for yourself."

Misael took the crystal from Dumon and read the data reports running across it. He blinked and gasped, "Wha- how-"

Dumon sighed and rubbed his forehead, "It seems as though Don Thousand had something to do with the fire so the leftover chaos energy was what made your brother a barian when he died. However it appears the energy was a little short for a perfect transformation."

Misael looked up. "A little? According to this report, he should've dropped dead when he was hit for that much damage in the duel!"

"He certainly is your brother." Dumon commented.

Misael stared at the report, not wanting it to be true. "But, is he really this sick?"

Dumon nodded solemnly. "His condition won't go away ever, but if he doesn't hurt himself too badly or overexert himself, he should be fine. And he'll be more liable to his illness's effects in his human form."

Misael clenched his fists. "There is no way he couldn't have known about this. Why didn't he tell me?!"

Dumon put a hand on Misael's shoulder. "He probably didn't want to worry you."

Misael frowned. "Is he conscious?"

Dumon flinched in fear for Miran. "He should be by now."

"Good. Could you take care of May? I need to have a long talk with nii-san." Misael left through an overlay network without waiting for Dumon's reply. Dumon sighed again and walked back into May's room. May was still fumbling with spoon but stopped when she saw Dumon.

"Where's Misael?" May asked immediately.

"He's checking in on Miran." Dumon replied.

May gave him a look. "What is wrong with Miran?"

Dumon groaned. "I'm not sure if I should be the one telling you."

"Well, Misael and Miran won't be telling me because they have their pride complexes and don't want me to worry but I need to know what's wrong with my big brother!" May cried.

Dumon rubbed the back of his neck. "Alright, I suppose I can give you the basics. Miran developed a condition after the fire. Because of it, he can't overexert himself or he'll pass out, start vomiting blood, or if he's pushed too far, die. He's also more prone to illnesses."

May's eyes widened. "WHAT?! Why did Misael even let him duel?! Seeing how Misael acts now, he wouldn't have even let Miran near the duel!"

Dumon sighed, "He didn't KNOW. I only found out after the test results on his status finished."

May fell back on her pillow. "My older brother is sick..."

"He'll be fine doing everyday activities so don't treat him like an invalid. But stunts like the Tchoua incident won't go over well." Dumon replied quickly.

"Okay, I hope Tchoua and Callum never come near any of us again." May sighed.

"They had better not. Misael still has a lot of pent up anger over that and they'll be on the receiving end of it if he ever sees them again." Dumon reassured her. May fumbled with the spoon again, trying to still her trembling arm. Dumon smiled. "If you'll let me help you with that, I'll tell your brothers it was all you."

"Okay. Thanks." May said as Dumon guided her hand.

Miran blinked his eyes slowly awake. It took him a few seconds to realize he was in a baria crystal. It was a way to familiar way to wake up. He lifted his arm and the front of the crystal receded, allowing him to walk out. He turned to see an overlay network opening and Misael walked out. "Hey, I'm up now." Miran 'grinned'.

Misael looked furious. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CONDITION?!"

"Best glad-you're-finally-awake greeting ever, bro." Miran replied.

Misael pointed his index finger at Miran. "Don't play coy! You knew you were sick but didn't tell me!"

Miran sighed. "Alright, yes, I knew. I found out shortly after becoming a barian. I didn't tell you when I ran into you because I didn't want you to worry and after I found out you were a barian, I definitely didn't want to tell you because you would have to try to protect me and you wouldn't let me duel Callum and Tchoua."

"Of course I wouldn't have! You could've died!" Misael yelled.

"I needed to get revenge and help save May. She's my sister too you know." Miran protested.

"But it wouldn't have done you much good if you were dead!" Misael snapped.

Miran held up his hands in a gesture of exasperation. "Oh come on already! There isn't anything you didn't tell me when we first ran into each other, besides being a barian?"

Misael stiffened. Miran put his hand on his little brother's shoulder. "Misael... this is just a theory, but you don't remember anything from your life as a human, do you?"

Misael looked away. "What was your first clue?"

"When you didn't remember what Mom wanted to name me. When you first found out about it when you were a little kid, you liked it so much that you pestered everyone for months about it. There was no way you would've forgotten about that. Then, I noticed that you showed no fear towards Callum, not even a flinch. You should've been afraid of him because of the memories of pain connected with him." Miran continued, "And all the swear words. Although if there wasn't so much other evidence, that could be attributed to just growing up."

"Alright, I didn't tell you about losing my memory. I remember a few things; that was how I was able to recall you, but only a few memories. Don't you dare tell May though." Misael warned.

Miran nodded. "Agreed. She already has a brother who could kneel over and die at any moment, she doesn't need to know that her little brother has amnesia."

Misael blanched. "Do not even joke about you dying."

Miran lightly punched him on the shoulder. "Lighten up. I'll be fine."

Misael summoned a crystal over, "Your condition is better in your barian form, right?"

"Yeah, so I'll have to spend a lot of time in Barian World. I'll still visit May though." Miran replied, "But you already knew that so why ask?"

"You don't have many ties to Barian World, do you?" Misael asked.

"Aside from my kid brother being an emperor of it, no. As I have said, I don't socialize with other barians much." Miran said.

Misael bristled, "Don't call me your kid brother. And here." Misael turned the crystal around and handed Miran a stylus pen. "You do now."

Miran glanced over what was on the crystal. He read aloud, "This contract legally binds the barian Miran to be Emperor Misael's personal advisor and vassal." Miran skimmed through the contract until his eyes focused on the place to sign his name at the bottom. "Not sure I like the term vassal but seems reasonable." Miran 'grinned'. He signed his name at the bottom. "Righto! What do I need to do?"

"Basically, your duties mainly require you to help supervise any projects when I can't and that's a lot of the time, and keep tabs on Alit and Gilag's sections of Barian World because they can't rule for shit." Misael snorted.

"You don't think that might be a little harsh?" Miran asked.

"Give it a few weeks of managing some of their affairs for them. You'll change your opinion fast." Misael said matter-of-factly.

"Wanna bet?" Miran 'smirked'.

"No, but only because betting is a loser and an idiot's way of settling matters." Misael sniffed.

Miran cuffed Misael over the head. "Did you just inadvertently call me a loser?"

Misael looked at him. "And an idiot." He blocked the next smack and the brothers had a quick sibling fight. Misael mentally scolded himself for acting so foolishly childish. He seemed to be acting like that a lot these days.

"Just so you know, you can't act like this around me in public." Misael warned.

"Yeah, I know that. Why do you think I'm teasing you now?" Misael just glared at his older brother. He was going to make some adjustments in his life after all of this, and try to learn how to be a brother.

And... this story's finished! I'll be writing a sequel that will (hopefully) be better than this story.