Chapter 11

Varen grabbed Arnette's face brushing her hair back. She shook uncontrollably as a stream of blood leaked out of her nose. Whatever he had done when he broke their connection must have caused some sort of reaction that was now hurting her. He tried to steady her body holding her face tightly. The others on the transport were fast asleep in their seats and he looked around in a panic, lost as to what to do.

"Wake up Arnette. I've got you, wake up." He said unbuckling her from the seat harness and pulling her head against his shoulder. He felt her chest rise suddenly and heard her gasp for air breathing in heavily. He pushed her back gently seeing her eyes now open wide. She looked back at him as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Varen?" She asked shakily her eyes beginning to water.

"Yeah, I'm here. You're ok." He answered pulling her against him. She buried her face on his shoulder ignoring that her blood now smeared along his shirt. He felt her body convulse as she cried hard for reasons he still did not know. He ran his hand through her hair letting her release whatever she had just experienced.

"Who was she?" She asked between sobs.

"Who?" He asked still not understanding what had happened. She pulled back a bit putting a hand on his chest.

"That girl who stabbed you. I saw it so you had to as well right?" She asked still shaking in his arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about Arnette. Last thing I saw was you in the rain. I woke up and you were shaking and bleeding. What did you see?" He asked. This was not something he had done. This was something else entirely. She wiped her nose with her hand seeing the blood for the first time.

"I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed reaching up and trying to wipe the blood from his clothes.

"Don't worry about that, what happened?" He asked looking around seeing that everyone was still sleeping. She took a moment to compose herself taking a breath.

"I don't know. One minute we were talking to each other and then I was somewhere else. There was a girl I've never seen before. A Pandora, I think, with a sword. She killed you and looked at me. Her eyes…they were just like…" She trailed off.

"Just like what?" Varen pressed and she swallowed hard looking into his eyes.

"Just like Chiffon's." She answered. Varen forced a small smile and squeezed her shoulders.

"It was just a dream Arnette. A vision that I must have caused when I broke our connection. I should not have done this without you knowing." He said. She shook her head quickly grabbing his arms.

"No, this was something else. I don't think this was just a dream Varen. She saw me. She said I found you." Arnette argued.

"Then what do you think it was?" He asked and she looked away hesitating to say anything further.

"Well, I think it was maybe the future?" It came out more like a question than an answer.

"The future?" He reiterated making her sigh.

"I knew you would think I'm crazy. I just think you shouldn't dismiss these things as some extension of your power. What if there's more to it? What if Kyle Monroe was telling the truth and to some degree he could foresee things to come?" She argued.

"Kyle is dead Arnette. Whatever future he saw never came to pass." Varen answered and again Arnette looked away to hide her face. This was turning into a dangerous conversation, but now more so than ever she needed to get this in the open.

"Can you be sure? Maybe what he saw was one of many possible futures. It's possible that whatever he saw and what I have seen are just potential futures." She said.

"By that logic it's just as likely that I will become the head of Chevalier. Anything is possible Arnette. His whole future never anticipated that he would die in Kaizu." Varen answered back. Arnette bit her lip and resolved herself to see this through.

"He knew Chiffon would die." Arnette answered and Varen tensed slightly.

"She chose to make that sacrifice. It had nothing to do with Kyle Monroe." He argued, but Arnette was unconvinced.

"Varen, what if these things we see are warnings? A chance to change what could come to pass?" His eyes looked down as she spoke and his hold on her shoulders disappeared.

"If that's so, then what Kyle said meant we could have changed Chiffon's fate? I failed to change what came to pass for her. Is that what you're saying?" He asked. She felt her heart pound against her chest and her anxiety rise.

"There's no way we could have known what would happen Varen. That's not what I meant." She said quickly.

"Then what are you saying? That we can't change what's been seen? If that's the case, then I'm as good as dead right?" He asked forcefully.

"Before we left I saw the same place as I did with that girl. The difference was that in the one I saw before you were alive, but you were different. It matched Kyle's description of what he saw in your future. Burning the world." She answered. Varen stared at her hard his mouth open slightly.

"So, either I die, or destroy the world?" He asked. Arnette shook her head.

"I'm saying that maybe the path you were on would have led to Kyle's initial thoughts. At some point recently something must have happened to alter it. It could have been killing Renalt that changed everything." She explained. At first he had thought this was silly and nothing more than paranoia, but Arnette was someone grounded on logic and reason. He had made the mistake of not trusting in her before. He leaned closer to her checking back to make sure everyone was still asleep.

"Alright, let's go through this and get on the same page with each other. I have seen a few things over the last year. Some of which we've shared and others we haven't. Besides these two visions you saw with me, what else have you seen?" He asked. She thought for a moment before answering the question.

"Right, ok, the one we saw today with the rain. Another of me arguing with Elizabeth about something. I think it was about Chiffon being gone, but I don't know for sure. It ended before any names were mentioned. Um, and I think…oh! There was one where we were talking about…oh my god!" She exclaimed covering her mouth suddenly. Varen's eyes opened wide.

"What is it?" He asked anxiously.

"The conversation we all had after you and Ticy left us to decide if we wanted to take part in this. I never noticed it at the time, but back when you and I first formed an Ereinbar Set. I saw two visions. The one in the rain and one where we all argued about following you. At the time it made no sense, but the vision was the same conversation we had after you'd left. Varen! That actually happened!" She said excitedly.

"This is insane…I remember that vision too. That actually happened just like we saw it?" He asked to which she nodded.

"Yes, dead on."

"Alright, so then right now as things are whoever you saw is going to kill me. Let's also assume that whatever is happening to you and me also was happening to Kyle Monroe. Chiffon's death was the catalyst for everything just like he said." Varen said and stared at the side of the transport as if lost in his own thoughts.

"What is it?" Arnette asked.

"I started a war. He said that when she died I would set this world aflame. He knew the whole time this would happen." He answered with a bit of sorrow.

"Then we change it." Arnette said grabbing his face and bringing his attention back.

"We can't. I'm not stopping this Arnette. I won't abandon Amelia, and I won't let Chevalier get away with what they did." He answered.

"I'm not saying we do any of that. We can find a way to do this. These are warnings and now we know about it. I know we can change this." She said.

"Chiffon said this was all a part of my powers subconsciously reaching out to people like you. What if she was only half right? I can communicate with people like you, but the visions are something separate?" He asked out loud.

"You think that the communication side of things is being mutated into these visions?" Arnette asked.

"Being a Limiter and having the necessary stigma cells to enact this ability is the requirement. My Limiter abilities are granted through Chiffon's stigmata. I can't believe I never thought of this before." He said shaking his head.

"I don't understand." Arnette said.

"Arnette, her stigmata aren't normal. She was a natural born Pandora. She could influence it to react differently." He said and Arnette squinted.

"But, she's dead. How can she be causing this?" Arnette asked.

"Yes, but there is someone who shares her blood who is still alive. At least to some extent." He answered and realization dawned on Arnette.

"Maria Lancelot…" She answered in shock. He nodded slowly.

"She's alive Arnette. When Chiffon implanted the stigmata on my back I saw it. It has to be her." He said.

"You think she's trying to warn us? To help us? I don't have any relation to Chiffon it doesn't explain why I can see things that you can't." Arnette answered.

"After I became a Limiter I led a mission that brought us to the lab where for a moment you and I argued. I know you felt it too." He said and she stared back at him.

"The Ereinbar Set." She answered.

"Before we officially formed one it happened accidentally that night. That has to be it. You and I have always had some sort of connection that has been unexplained. I can use your volt weapon, the Ereinbar Set, and now these visions that we not only share, but you also have on your own about me." He explained.

"Then this is good news right? This whole time Maria Lancelot has been trying to help us we just didn't know it. What do we do?" She asked now a bit more excited.

"We get Amelia out first. Then, I think we should speak to the one person who knew Maria and Chiffon better than anyone. Aoi Gengo." He answered.

"Varen, we're wanted criminals there's no way he would help once he's found out what we've done. He works for Chevalier." Arnette answered. Varen shook his head.

"He'll help. I know he will. I'll contact Ingrid once we are safe." He said.

"You can't Chevalier could be listening in. It would put them in danger." Arnette responded with a concerned tone. Varen just smiled and pointed to his head.

"It's all good." He answered with a grin.

"Right…you can just invade her thoughts and dreams by force to talk with her." She said rolling her eyes.

"When you say it like that it sounds really bad." Varen said depressed. He felt something brush along the right side of his face and turned finding himself inches from Attia's nose.

"You two sure are getting close over here." The small Pandora said happily.

"We…we are not! Why are you awake?" Arnette yelled making Attia grin all the wider.

"I was, but your loud voice woke me up. You two were talking so excitedly that I got curious. I didn't mean to spoil the mood." Attia answered leaning her head on Varen's shoulder.

"There's no mood! Nothing!" Arnette argued. Varen shook his head.

"You're a troublemaker." He said nudging Attia in the side. The Pandora giggled moving back to her seat. As irritated as Arnette pretended to be she felt a bit of relief and happiness for the first time in a while. She now felt like she understood these visions more than ever, and she felt there was one thing about them she felt she was certain of. Maria wanted her to save Varen.