HEY GUYS, YOU GUYS, HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS! SHORT CHAPTER! XD

Ok, first off, there was a tiny mistake in last chapter, Jude accidently grabbed Luke's ass not the other way around.

Banana Pie: I'm certainly having fun adding new locations. Believe me, this story is getting so much better.~

I would appreciate some feedback guys, this story is really long and I would love to see what you guys think, even if you didn't like something I would love to know what that was.

Chapter 14: The Path of Regret

I stared at the dune field with a lump in my throat; the sun shined upon the clear blue sky and even thought the cave that took us out - from the dark and humid atmosphere of the tunnels - was now behind us, I felt worse than ever. I felt a hole in my stomach, one that had been growing all this time without me realizing it.

But this wasn't about being a replica or not, it wasn't about betraying the others and running away, no, of course not. I woke up the next morning and neither Asch nor Sync where there, they probably left while we were sleeping and for some reason that made me feel terrible. I could barely remember my conversation with Asch last night.

I should have asked him what was going on with him, but what did I do? I melted in his arms with a stupefied expression and then fell asleep.

I woke that morning just beside Luke and I instantly knew something was wrong. Pierce, who woke before us, was the first one to notice they were gone. Luke was fuming since he never got to interrogate Asch about why they looked alike. I should have seen that coming but the truth is that it never crosses my mind, at least, not while Asch acted calmed and collected. Now, I was sure it had been just a façade and that last night was probably the last time I was going to see him.

"We finally made it." Pierce chirped, looking ahead, his voice echoed as his words reached the cavern that lay just two to three feet away, behind us.

"Where do we go now?" Luke crossed his arms. Pierce placed a hand on his forehead to cover his eyes from the sun and scanned the horizon from left to right. He stopped at one point of the panorama, his eyes lit up and a small smile tugged from his lips.

"We are lucky." He claimed, pointing at our next destination. "See that blurry spot right there? That must be the Desert Oasis!"

"I hope that isn't an illusion…" I pouted. Getting lost in the desert was the last thing I wanted.

"Well, I feel like crap!" Pierce beamed and looked at our blue blooded redhead, "You feel like crap?" Luke blinked a couple of times until the question sank on his brain and then nodded. "Then, that means everything will be fine!"

"Wha- Pierce, you're making no sense!" I growled, but he wasn't listening; he just marched away with optimism toward the location he pointed out, and Luke and I had no other option but to follow. The first time I meet Pierce I thought he was a weirdo, then I changed my mind when he promised not to tell anyone about me almost kissing Asch, but now… I didn't know what to think.

Well, at least I can tell he is definitely a good person, but that was it. I wonder if all the things that happened at the ruins affected him in some way, I mean, maybe he had another job to take care of after taking those merchants to the Oasis or maybe he needed to go to Chesedonia and help Astor with the guild.

However, if that was the case, he wouldn't look so optimistic and happy. I mean, just look at him! Where does he get all that energy? I'd be worried about losing my job if I were him, but it's not like we have been together long enough to actually know what he would do if he gets fired.

The heels of my boots dug into the sand as we trotted down over another dune, I'd love to take a bath once we get to the Oasis. Sand particles had slipped inside my clothes, which caused a really uncomfortable sensation all over my body. And oh Yulia, my sweat wasn't making it any better with all those particles gluing to my skin.

If that wasn't enough, the skin from my forehead, shoulders and arms was burning under the sun and my neck and butt hurt for sleeping over the rocky surface of those damn tunnels. My feet where starting to ache and my mouth was getting dryer by the second. I'm so going to kill Pierce if the Oasis is a damn illusion. Although, we did drink enough water from the underground lake so hopefully, we weren't having hallucinations.

You know, a massage from one of those rocky-creatures would feel so good now. Hell, it would be a great way to exfoliate my skin as well. I went on daydreaming all the way to the Oasis, thinking of fresh water, massages and the soft, comfortable bed that was waiting for me at the inn. Those thoughts were keeping me alive and above my feet.

After a few hours of head tripping and walking at the same time, the Desert Oasis finally stood three or four feet away from us. Luke and I rushed to the Oasis and dove into the water. The burning sensation on my skin disappeared momentarily as the fresh and unusually cold water dulled the pain. I submerged my head in the water and felt the cold liquid touch my face, somehow revitalizing every part of my body.

I rose from under the water and found Pierce looking at us with a burlesque expression on his face. Damn him, he is already used to the extreme climate of Chesedonia and the desert! Luke and I stepped out of the water all soaked and dripping water, I was feeling so alive and relieved that even the hollow sensation in my stomach disappeared.

"Oh, Luke, thank goodness!" Natalia's voice made us turned around, Luke was caught off guard when the Princess of Kimlasca jumped and flung her arms around his neck, followed by Anise, who hugged one side of his waist, seeing as Natalia was almost climbing over him.

"Ohhh, Luke! You're safe!" Anise squeaked, almost singing, "We were on our way to look for you!" Pierce and I stared at them with blank expressions until another familiar voice called out.

"Jude!" Before I knew it, Tear was spinning me this way and that to see if I was injured. Only when she was sure that I was perfectly fine was that she looked me in the eye, for one second, I thought she was going to slap me.

"What's wrong with you?" She roared. "Why in the world did you jump onboard the Tartarus? They could have killed you!" I was glad that she wasn't able to see all the bruises under my clothes.

"Tear, I-"

"I was so worried about you!" She raised her hands into the air. "And then, you had to fall into that hole!"

"T-that wasn't my fault!" I stammered. Long story short, I'm just going to say she gave me the scold of my life. Pierce tried to 'soothe' her with a hug, and I had to yank a handful of his hair when I saw that perverted look on his face.

Tear wasted no time and started to scold him as well, not because he was a pervert, but because he acted without thinking back at the ruins. We had no other option than to sit in a corner and listen to everything she had to say.

When she was done, we all headed to the market where we found Guy, Jade and Ion sitting on a long dining table with a map over it. They had been trying to figure out where the breach could have taken us. Jade had the theory that, if Pierce was able to make such a big hole on the ground, it was possible that there was some sort of passage beneath the ruins, and we knew he was right.

We explained what happened after falling into the hole, about the underground lake, the tunnels, the hidden temple, the sign and what it said. Just as expected, none of them had heard of Mt. Jimenah in their lives, not even Ion, which was even more suspicious when that hidden temple had the symbol of the Order of Lorelei.

We also explained that Asch and Sync had left when they saw the perfect opportunity to do so, which took our conversation to what happened to them when we fell into the breach. Apparently, the giant sand worm buried itself into the ground, which was the perfect opportunity to get out of there. Largo -more than anyone- knew that he wouldn't be able to fight the others alone, so he left while he could.

After another long discussion I wasn't paying attention too, I finally got the bath I had been dying for, the inn had a small backyard were they kept wooden bathtubs with cold water. The bathtubs had a small stool and were inside small wooden cabins, just for privacy.

I sank into the water and relaxed, everything was quite, it was perfect. I stayed like that for a couple of minutes, not really thinking about anything, just relaxing. Lately, I had been thinking too much, all those crazy ideas and feelings of guilt where not healthy at peace didn't last long, in a second, I was thinking about replicas, death and sins.

Yesterday, when I was thinking in front of the bonfire… I felt like I was going to go nuts. I closed my eyes and rubbed the soap on my arm, taking my time.

I was sure I was a replica, back at the prison Van was really angry but I was also able to perceive sadness as well. If he was really a liar then, I had the feeling he wasn't lying in that occasion. It's difficult to describe what's what makes me thinks that, but I know it's real. Perhaps it was something in the way he trembled, or the rage his eyes reflected, true pain.

Besides, the medallion's power is real, I've seen it work and I'm positive, I'm under some sort of curse. Jude's memories, knowledge and abilities were transferred to the medallion and given to me. I had the feeling that if I were the real Jude, Van would have shown real concern. I had the feeling Van and Jude had their own bond, a strong friendship.

Still and all, I was thinking about asking Jade if there was a way to know if 'someone' was a replica without having the original to show up. If there was a way then, that would set things clearer.

Right when I was getting out of the bathtub, someone knocked on the door of my cabin.

"Jude…Are you there?" That was Luke. What the hell is he doing here?

"Yeah, what is it?" I replied from the other side of the door.

"There is something you need to explain." His voice rang with a serious tone. I wrapped a towel around my body as soon as I got out of the bathtub. "The person you were looking for at the Tartarus. The one you mistook me with was Asch, right?"

Shit.

"I…well… It's not…I…there is…"

"So, you knew he looked like me." He spluttered. There is no way I can get out of this one.

"I meet him when I was with Van and the Order…" I began. "Then, I… I didn't… I didn't think it was important." 'You didn't think it was important?' Congratulations Jude, that's the best least believable lie you have ever said. I heard him scoff from the other side and then, what I'm pretty sure was a wooden bucket being kicked. Damn it, this can't be good.

"Well, the fact that he looks like you doesn't mean anything," I claimed, but I knew that would hardly convince him. Especially after the telepathic conversation they had when Ion and I were still captured. Hah, and I used to think he was stupid.

"You think I'm stupid?" He growled. I had the urge to say 'Maybe just- YES!' but I bit my tongue instead. I heard him curse and kick another bucket before stomping away, shutting the door with a loud thump. Yeah, well, fuck you too.

I waited for a few seconds just to make sure he wouldn't come back then, I opened the door of my small cabin and looked around before dashing to the ladies' room…

I had been staring at the ceiling for five minutes or so, lying on my bed and already dressed. I was hoping to get some sleep but somehow, it turned impossible, I didn't even yawn at all. Maybe it was because of the conversation I had with Tear a couple of hours ago.

She had come into our room (the inn was too small and there were only two rooms, one for men and the other one for us, women.) to check on me. I can't say our conversation was long or short, I'd say it was in between. We started talking about what had happen in the Zao Ruins before they appeared and somehow we ended up talking about Jude and her when they were little.

She said I (Jude) was really good at making up stories, ghost stories to be exact. That's the reason she wasn't surprised when I told Guy and Luke about the so called 'Cursed Black Widow'. I think remember someone saying something about Tear being afraid of ghosts when we were at the abandoned factory. Hah, I guess you can blame Jude for that little trauma!

When Tear left the room, I stayed there thinking.

As far as I can 'remember,' Tear was not this serious when she was younger. And still if Jude was her best friend then, she was trying to keep her distance. I was expecting her to be near me all the time when I meet her for the first time, back at Choral Castle. But no, it was like if she was giving me space…? Or trying to be as professional as possible, I don't know.

Or…could she feel something was wrong with me? Like…maybe I wasn't a perfect copy of Jude, and she could sense it. I pushed those thoughts off my mind as soon as my left eye started to sting.

Huh, it feels like it has been ages since the last time it stung.

I pressed my palm on my eye, the pain was not as strong as previous times, and it was fair to say I could undertake the pain without a problem. Compared to last time, this one was bearable. It made me wonder, was Van causing the pain? Or was it part of the medallion's curse? I was waiting for a memory to rush through my eyes but nothing happened. Well, ever since Van told me I was a replica, I haven't 'remembered' anything about Jude's past, which meant he had full control over the medallion's power.

I jumped off from my bed, and took a small notepad and a pen I found over my bedside desk. Then, I proceeded to draw a spider web, a really crappy-looking one; I'd starve as an artist, I'm not going to lie.

When I was done, I stared at it, trying to figure out why Van had compared a spider web with how the memories of a person work.

I suppose I can say all of a person's memories are connected by emotions. So, can I say that a grieving or melancholic emotion will bring out a memory from the same category…?

When I was eavesdropping at Choral Castle, something triggered the power of the medallion. And now that I think about it, the memory that I saw back at that time was when Jude and Tear where eavesdropping at the conference room, back at Yulia City.

Honestly, I can hardly remember what was I feeling back then, so there was no way to prove my theory. I ripped the page from the pad and placed it over the desk, I stared at it once again, and that's when someone knocked on the door.

I folded the piece of paper and shove it inside my bag. "Come in."

The door opened, the gorgeous and magnificent Jade the Necromancer came in and lit up the room with his sexy presence. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all." I grinned. "Something happened?" Jade took away his glasses and walked towards the window. Holy crap, he looks even better without them!

"No, nothing has happened." His eyes were locked at whatever was outside. "To tell you the truth, that's what has been bothering me."

I hate when people are vague with their words. "Can you be more specific?" I snorted, plopping over the bed again.

"When you jumped onboard the Tartarus, I thought you did it as a way to take advantage of the situation. After all, didn't you want to go back with Asch?" I was about to protest but he continued, "Instead, you helped Ion escape by trying to seduce him."

Oh, no… Not Jade! My face lit up with a soft red shade of embarrassment and...And anger, damn it!

"I… It was your fault!" I grumbled. "B-besides, what does that has to do with 'nothing has happened'?" Jade rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses again.

"You haven't presented symptoms since we left Baticul, have you?" He glanced at me with that face, the one that scares the hell out of me. "Have your resolutions changed, as well as you have?"

I stood up, "What is it that you want to hear?" I dared, I wasn't even sure if we were talking about the same thing but my tone was just a defensive reflect.

"The truth…" He looked back at the window. Time stopped for about two minutes, neither him nor I moved or said anything. Then, his arm rose and he gestured me to come closer, his eyes still locked on whatever had caught his attention outside the window.

My hands turned into fists and I walked towards him with hesitation. He took two steps back and gestured me to look outside. I rested a hand on the window sill and looked outside. I saw Guy and Pierce having a conversation; I could only see their backs as they leaned on the wooden fence, looking at the dune fields of the horizon. Pierce had a cigarette on one hand.

Huh? I didn't know he smoked…

Before I could give Jade an inquiring look, he rested a hand on one of my shoulders and squeezed it, hitting a bruise, one of the ones that Asch left. One of my arms rooted for support on the window frame and a choking sound escaped from my throat. Jade, instead of letting go, squeezed even harder and the pain almost made me fall to my knees. I groaned.

"Oh… Is something wrong?" He sounded clueless, almost innocent, but he never let go. I knew that if I had turned around and looked at him I wouldn't have seen concern, but one of his enigmatic smiles. So, instead, I pushed his hand away and plopped on the nearest bed.

"I-I'm fine." I hissed, looking down at the floor. He stared at me with that intimidating look again and I felt like I couldn't stay any longer without bursting into tears. "I need some fresh air." My voice cracked.

I didn't wait for his reply; I stood up and opened the door. I found a confused Ion at the other side, I guessed he was about to knock on the door. Instead of asking what he was doing there, I stepped aside and kept walking, not knowing where I was going.

Ion stepped into the room and looked at Jade before closing the door behind him. The small Fon Master had the feeling Jade's attempt at persuading Jude had failed.

"So we were both correct, after all…" Jade sighed. Ion dragged his feet and sat on the nearest bed, he had a really bad feeling about this. He had been worried over Jude even before seeing her attacked by Asch. He had seen Jude perform uncommon artes and that had been bothering him for a while.

Ion was positive he had heard about that type of arte before, he didn't want to make a fuss about it. But of course, he had voiced his concern to Jade. The word 'aphotic' wasn't a good sign, he was sure about that. If only he was at Daath, maybe he could go to the Cathedral and search for-

"It would be easier if you could explain me how dangerous this situation can turn out to be." Jade huffed, placing his hands behind his back.

Ion looked up at him with an apologizing look. "Sorry Jade, it's confidential to the Order..."

I walked out of the inn and looked around, I needed a distraction. Anything that could make me think about more cheerful topics or whatnot, something or someone that could make me forget about how guilty I felt. About how Tear, Jade and the rest of the group would look at me if they knew what I was up to, what Van was up to.

The sky was adorned with mixed pigments of purple and amber as the gold edges of the sun merged with the terra-cotta tincture of the far-reaching mesa. It was beautiful, but I wasn't here to look at the view.

My eyes stopped looking around when Pierce came to view. He was alone now; Guy had probably left to do something else. It was perfect, Pierce was still smoking and I knew starting a conversation with him wasn't tough at all.

In fact, I considered him a good distraction; you never know what his answer will be when you ask him a question.

"Hey, Pierce." I said good-naturally, hah, or at least tried to sound that way. I was doing my best not to cry.

"Oh, hey, what's up?" He gave me a winning smile; he was holding a cigarette between his grooming and middle finger. I never imagined he would be the type of guy that smokes. I mean, look at his teeth they are all white and he doesn't look like he-

"Hello? Jude?" Pierce waved a hand in front of my face and I blinked a few times when I finally noticed he had been waiting for an answer.

"Sorry, I spaced out." I rubbed my head and gave him an apologetic look. "Anyway, I needed some fresh air but you are obviously busy contaminating it." My eyes fixed on his cigarette.

He chuckled. "Sorry, I can't help it." He said, turning around and sitting over the fence to look at me. "I do it from time to time, when I was younger I'd smoke a whole box daily." He grinned when I looked surprised. "Yeah, not healthy. Don't try it unless you want to have a gravelly and manly voice."

"I think I'll pass." I snorted and leaned on the fence. "How old were you when you started smoking?"

He twisted his lips while thinking. "Probably fourteen, can't remember." He placed the cigarette on his lips and sucked the nicotine before giving off some smoke.

I frowned. "How old are you now?"

"I turned eighteen this year." He said, with a tiny smile. "You know, when I was younger I was a little bit worried when I couldn't stop smoking. Then, I…" He paused and his smile died while the look on his face hardened. "Then, I stopped caring."

"Why?"

"Nah, it's not a big deal. It's really not that interesting. So… How long have you been an Oracle Knight?" He asked glaring at my uniform, disgust leaking out from his voice.

"Oh… I actually need new clothes; I'm no longer part of the Order of Lorelei." I sighed. "I lost my memory a while ago and was fired." I can't tell him I'm a replica! Can I…?

"Hah, that's the ever-compassionate Order of Lorelei for you…" He scoffed. Wow, he really doesn't like the Order; I wonder what his reason is. Well, it's time for my tactless self to appear!

"You hate the Order?" I asked. Well, you can't say I personally love them. I told you, those guys bring bad luck. I mean, I went to Zao Ruins with three of them and we got attacked by a horde of bats, a giant sandworm and last but not least, we fell into a hole.

"Let's say I'm not the Score's number one fan," he said, holding his cigarette between his teeth and resting his elbows on his lap.

"You… Hate Yulia…?" I have nothing against Yulia but I have the feeling that she might hate me.

"No, I don't hate her. Actually, I think she had a good intention, but writing the Score wasn't one of her best ideas."

"What do you mean?"

"I know a lot of people that suffered because of the Score. A lot of kids have been abandoned by their parents because the Score said they would do that. Others are so sick and dependant of it to cut a leg or hand because the Score said they would lose that part of their body, they think it's bad fortune if those things don't happen."

He stared at his hands and then continued. "Do you know what people do when they know it will rain?" I shook my head from left to right. "They keep the children inside their home so they won't get sick. Since some of them never get sick because of their parents, when they do for the first time they get pretty bad… Some of them die, just from a few drops of rain." He took the cigarette out from his mouth and threw it to the floor. "And also, some people stay poor because that's what the Score says, so they don't even try to progress."

"I'm really sorry…" I mumbled. He jumped off from the fence and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Hey, it's not like it's your fault. Besides, someday we're gonna dance with those lions." I raised a brown and he only smiled, surprisingly it was a warm smile, not a perverted smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?" An inquiring look on my face.

"That one day people will live without the curse of the Score, like me." I gave him a stern look, I hate when people answers a question with a vague answer or with an even more confusing one. It's like answering a question with another question; I mean, seriously, what the hell?

Pierce laughed. "Sorry, I say a lot of bullshit whenever I smoke. Nicotine makes me feel wise sometimes, you know…"

He raised his hands and rested them at the back of his head. He then, turned on his heel. "Well, I need to go, we'll talk later."

"Later? Are you leaving for Chesedonia?" He turned around and started walking backwards.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. We'll be heading to Chesedonia tomorrow; I already talked with Jade about it, I'm low on money and supplies so I can't leave now. Anyways, see you later!" And before I could say 'good-bye', he was already gone.

I stared at the road ahead, the one that would take us to Chesedonia tomorrow. I thought I was going to feel better after talking with him but this type of things can't make it any better. I hadn't notice Pierce was so fucking interesting. Now I'm curious about him. Damn it!

He was an awesome distraction, but I really hated cliff-hanging conversations that will only turn on the snoopy side in me. Sooner than expected, my eye started stinging again or maybe I was too busy to notice the pain never left. Either way, a ticklish sensation rolled in on the tips of my fingers, well, only on my right hand. My eyes widened when I looked down at my hand, my fingers where moving on its own, twitching…

The next day, we left the Desert Oasis and head to Chesedonia first thing in the morning. Of course, we filled our canteens with fresh water before going anywhere. I had been lucky enough to get one from Asch before heading to the Zao Ruins; whenever I see him I get free stuff, which is awesome. But now, who knows if I'll see him again. I suppose Van is doing his best to keep the mission of Azkeriuth a secret, otherwise Asch would show up. Yulia, I hope he doesn't, I'll kill myself if he does!

At any rate, Pierce seems to have fit in pretty quickly with the rest of the party. Though, for some reason, I'm not surprised to see him getting along so well with Anise, given that she's so talkative and cheerful... Always.

He also seems to have gotten used to Luke's whining even before they tried to saves us at the Zao Ruins. I guess he got the opportunity to know the others a little bit when they were looking for Ion and me.

And now that I think about it, the only one I don't know well enough is Natalia, for obvious circumstances. You know, I thought her temper was worse than Luke's but I was wrong, she has proven to be respectful most of the time and really lady-like. So, you know, I might as well give it a go and try to get closer to her. Hopefully, she'll be willing to do the same. Having a princess with a good aim as an enemy isn't something I'm looking forward to, so I'll just have to cross my fingers and pray for everything to go smoothly.

I covered my ears when Luke started complaining again about the heat. Like, we all know it's fucking hot, so shut up! Sometimes his voice kind of drills a hole into your skull, it's hard to think when he is talking, I swear!

"Ugh, Luke, we all know it's hot!" I blurted out, "You don't have to remind us every five seconds!" No shit, I swear it was hotter than any other day; it wasn't this hot when Ion and I were heading to the ruins with Largo, Sync and Asch. We could have cooked an egg with this heat if we had wanted to.

"Hey, I can say what I want, I'm the Ambassador here and you are supposed to do what I say!" He proclaimed with a poisonous look on his face, he is tempting me to use another one of Mr. Miyagi's tricks. Seriously, can't he learn about previous events, how can he still be like that when I almost choke him with his own hair?

The heat and his constant whining were driving me crazy to the point I wanted to shove his sword right up his ass. I counted to ten inside my own head and breathe deeply as he kept on babbling.

I tried balling my right hand into a fist though 'trying' was useless, ever since yesterday my fingers had been twitching constantly, even when my eye wasn't stinging anymore. Obviously I had been trying to hide it from the others by keeping my hands inside my pockets.

Honestly, what the hell is going on with me? If it's not my eye, then it's the memories and now, my freaking hand has a god damn tic. I don't know if I'll be able to-

"For the love of- Can't you shut up?" I roared and jumped over him while my hands wrapped around his neck.

Tear, Anise and Natalia were trying to pull me apart from him while Pierce and Guy trembled with fear. Ion, Jade (with a smile) and Mieu observed as the girls tried saving our dear Ambassador Luke fon Fabre, it was just the beginning of another long, long day.

Hey there, before I go on with some songs, you know, I've been thinking about making a fictionpress account for this original story I've come up with. (Hopefully, someday I'll be able to publish it.) I'm almost done with backstories of every character so I might start posting chapters, whenever I get free time to write them that is.

Important: Btw, if you wonder why her hand has started twitching its just a tic cause by all the stress she is going through.

Songs used in this chapter:

Flipsyde - Someday (dedicated to Pierce, you'll notice he said a piece of the song's lyric.)

Rihanna - Terminator (One of my fav. songs, I swear!)

Sick Puppies - Asshole Father (lyrics reminded me of Asch.)

Infected Mushroom - Heavyweight (Another of my fav. songs and the only one I like from I.M)

Emilie Simon - Rainbows (lyrics reminded me of Jude and her internal conficts. This song is so weirdly awesome, I love the trumphets specially almsot at the end!) I know, I have a weird (and variated) music taste, don't I? XD