Me: Yay! Another chapter! Enjoy!

Zellos: What's up b-

Me: Oh shut up Zellos. Enjoy the chapter guys!

Chapter 12: Emil?

"Emil-where'd he go?" I turned around to see nothing but a red haired man along with 2 other men dressed in black. They seemed to be loading a sack into the back of a truck near by.

"He must've ran home, dumbo. He said he wanted to come yet he didn't even say good-bye." At that moment, Zelos came up yelling something, red hair flying.

"What?" Jenna asked staring, looking like she was staring at a very stupid painting in a museum.

"The jewel was stolen!" what jewel- oh that jewel.

"Oh, that's not too ba-wait, WHAT!?" It seemed that Jenna was about to explode.

"Yeah. A dude with reddish hair ran off with it," Colette stated, huffing as she ran up. Her face was full of Melancholy. This was definitely serious.

"So, meeting off," Sheena remarked nonchalantly and walked off.

"Oh," it was the first thing I had said since the conversation had started. Well, almost. I seriously hope I don't run into-wait. Didn't that man have red hair? Raine and Genis fret over that stone like crazy. If that man did steal it, nothing will end up well for him.

"Yeah, too bad huh," sighed Lloyd. He looked like he had seen the worst thing in his life.

"This was a waste of time. C'mon Marta, I'll walk you home." Jen said downcast, referring to the bag. I considered there was more to it since she was almost as protective of the stone as the Sage siblings were.

"'Kay Jen," I said, knowing she'd just crash there. It really was too bad we'd gotten all that stuff for nothing. Plus, class tomorrow is going to suck. Great. We turned around to face the empty black terrain covered with little rock islands, and left.

################################################## ##################

When we got to the big blue building that I happened to live in, the first thing I did was to check if Emil was okay. When I got up there and into his room I saw him lying there, snoring. He seemed fine so I left to go back to my room. Once in there, I grabbed my pajamas. I slipped them on and then fell into bed, drifting into sleep.

As far as I could tell, I was in a red room, yellow streaks running across the floor. I was wearing a rather strange outfit on complete with a seemingly small and rather heavy bag strapped around my waist. In front of me stood Emil, who started walking towards something that looked rather like an oddly shaped door, wearing the clothes I had found him in. Lloyd also stood slightly in front of me. He wore a weird red shirt and he still had suspenders! But what caught my attention the most was that I couldn't control my body. Wait, what?!

"-but in the end, I wasn't able to defeat Ratatosk," I looked over and saw my uncle dressed in pretty much the same clothes, though the sword and ax were new. Why is he here? And who is this Ratatosk guy? I'm deeply confused. Again, my body moved without me asking it to and I saw Emil standing in front of me with his hand out toward the odd door which began to glow. He slowly started to lower his hand and just stood there for a second or two until he began to laugh, growing in volume.

I walked up to him, at about arms length, and asked, " What's the matter Emil?" He just laughed harder and through his head back. Suddenly, he whipped around and grabbed my neck, choking me. I lifted up my arms to try and pry his off, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Now nothing can stand in my way," he began, "Once I bind Aqua to my will I will regain all of my power!" What? "Now, hand over Aqua's core!" I continued to fight his arm.

"I- I can-can't breath, Emil," I managed to stutter out.

"I said, hand over Aqua's core right now!" Then, I could breath. I sucked in the air greedily as I fell into someone's arms. Someone must've helped me!

"Emil, why are you doing this?"

"I am not Emil, I am Lord Ratatosk," he shouted and I heard the unsheathing of a blade. Then, the swish of one through the air. I heard the unsheathing of another blade next to me as the person let go of me. I stepped back, opening my eyes, and was slightly surprised to see Lloyd deflecting a blow from Emil with one of his two swords. Wait, when did Lloyd get a sword, let alone two? And Emil just said he was this Ratatosk guy. I didn't think I could ever be this confused in my life!

"Emil, stop this!" I yelled, pleading with my eyes as well as my entire being. He laughed again as he and Lloyd began to fight yelling, Emil yelling, "Die, Die, Die!" He was acting so sadistic. Then he stopped, clutching his own throat like he had mine.

"Why you," He dropped his sword. What is going on?

Then, he spoke again, in a voice that wasn't quite as deep, "Marta."

"Emil," I was genuinely concerned, but I hadn't actually said that. I wasn't that scared. Freaking out, yes, but wasn't this just a dream? I wished I could pinch myself.

"I'm so, sorry. It seems Verius' protection can stop me from disappearing, but that isn't enough to stop Ratatosk," He gasped, trying to draw breath in.

"No! You can't give up!" I protested, running up to him. Internally, I was yearning to know what he meant.

"Why won't you stop interfering," He said in that original, gruff voice, and he hit me in the stomach. What now?

"Help me Marta, please!" the sweet voice returned, "You've got to stop me! Turn me into a core, and use me to seal the door!" All I wanted to do was walk up to him and ask what he meant but no, I was restricted.

The dark one sounded again, "Stop it, I won't let you!" Okay, I'm now having a mental breakdown! Someone, tell me what's happening! Has Emil gone crazy?!

Light one was back, "This is it, I can't hold myself back any longer. Please, Marta," He fell to his knees, then all the way down. All I wanted to do was catch him, but I couldn't move. The scene became white and I freaked out and screamed, clenching my eyes shut. I was utterly confused and worried. What was going on?

There was a hand on my shoulder. Then I was pulled into a hug. I stopped screaming, but couldn't open my eyes. I was scared, and deathly so, all of a sudden. Tears were streaming down my face. I was so confused.

"Hey, Marta are you okay?" It was Emil. He was alive and not trying to kill me.

"Are you, real?" I blurted out.

"Yeah, I'm right here." I opened my eyes and saw him sitting there, still fully dressed. He wasn't fighting a war with himself or me. He was perfectly fine. I looked up into his emerald orbs and saw concern etched into them.

"You tried to kill me, and then Lloyd and even yourself," I said. I could feel my cheeks heating up. That had felt so real, almost like a memory. I wonder. . . no, not possible.

"Oh, is that so?" he asked jokingly.

"Yes, you were!" I retorted.

"Okay," he remarked, his grin widening. I grabbed a pillow and hit him on his side, "Hey!"

"You deserved it!"

"What did I do?" he asked innocently.

"You don't believe me!"

"Alrighty then," he smiled even wider and hit me with a pillow. My smile vanished.

"By the way, where did you run off to? You literally just vanished. Are you okay?" I questioned, glaring.

"Oh, um, nowhere really. I just decided to come home," I could tell he was lying, but I could wait to ask him later. He was a mystery. I hit him again with the pillow.

"What now?"

"I don't believe you,"

"You sure?"

"Very."

"Oh well, maybe later you will," he trailed off a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"What do you mean-Hey, st-top it! That tickles!" I giggled. I should have seen this coming. Typical Emil. He might be shy, but he could tickle and it almost always works to his benefit. Yep, that was how he got out of things with me.

"Believe me now?"

"No."

"Your loss!" He smirked, green eyes glinting.

Me: I hope you liked it!

Jen: I hope Emil makes breakfast in the next chapter! What, I've heard good things about his cooking!

Me: Okay. . . . Well, please review!