I watched her approach, a strange sense of recognition and foreboding rolling over me as her heels clicked sharply on the rough cement, loud in the absolute silence, her black eyes trained intensely on me, lips pulled back into a sweet smile.

"Do you know," She asked curiously, "How very hard it was to find a body with hair this nice?"

I stared at her blankly.

Are you here to threaten me or ask for hair advice?

"It took years to find a suitable body," She mused, tapping her chin with her finger idly, "And the amount of work I had to put into getting it ready to use..." She sighed, smiling wider and dropping the hand down, "But, that's a matter for later, I suspect. And while I really would just love to kill you now, it would be a shame to waste all this preparation and waiting! So step aside now," She gestured for me to move, "It's not you I want to kill. Well, not yet at the very least..."

"I'm not moving," I said, positioning myself in between Leaf and her, "And I have a few questions to ask. Were you the necromancer who attacked here yesterday?"

She froze, her eye twitching. Dark energy began to wave out, sizzling slightly like black flames. When she spoke it was almost a hiss, "Necromancer you say. Necromancer like I conjure up little body puppets and simple curses..." Her snarl was back in full as she growled, "No, I am no mere necromancer. I am so much more than that. The fact that you don't recognize me in this body... Your death will be the most painful. I am Lady Richelle Redwin, but rest assured. It is not yet your time to die. So step aside."

"Yeah, still not moving," I said flatly, gathering Holy element in my hands, "You want to get to him, you're going to have to try and get through me."

"And which is 'him'?" She purred, Dark element gathering around her thickly, "The intruder, or your most precious Leaf Knight?"

I stared at her blankly for a moment. If she had just said Leaf Knight, I could have passed it off as normal. I didn't know how many necromancers the organisation had contacted with. Even her calling me Grisia could be excused. But to call him my precious Leaf Knight...

"You needn't worry for him, yet," She laughed, tone light but eyes as dark as night, "He dies later, when the set is complete. You see, I like to keep my promises. And I did promise, didn't I? Even all of your useless tampering won't break a promise of mine."

"Which promise?" I asked slowly, wondering if she wasn't somebody from my past.

"No!" She yelled suddenly, eyes desperate. In the lapse of a second she moved to stand directly in front of me, her dark nails cutting little crescents into my throat as she squeezed it, face full of fury, "Say you remember. Say it! You have to remember, you despicable bastard! You have to know who you are when I kill you, you have to feel the pain I felt! Who. Are. You?!"

I raised my hand to curl around her wrist, Holy Light sizzling against her flesh and raising blisters over her arm as I glared, "I'm Grisia Sun. And I think you know exactly what I mean by that."

She let go, stepping back and smiling softly, her head tilted to the side slightly as she murmured, "That's great."

I cast a healing spell to ease the aching in my throat, "Why's that so great?!"

She laughed, the sound metallic as it danced around the warehouse, "Well, it would have been better if they all remembered... But you interfered to make sure they'd forget. But that's okay! Because it doesn't really matter whether or not they remember," She shook her head as though the thought was silly, her copper hair swaying along with the motion, "As long as you remember, that's okay!"

Is she... talking about my past life?

"Why?" I asked, a tinge of desperation lacing my words, "Why do I have to remember?!"

"Because," The smile widened until it was almost manic, teeth glinting, "You have to remember. Remember that it was all your fault. Remember why you have to die. The original plan was for all your friends to remember, too but... Well you screwed that up for me, too," Some of the joy in her face seemed to fade, "You always do. This time, though, it's my win. You may have protected them from remembering, but you won't be able to protect them from me. Not this time around. Everything you cherish will die."

"I don't cherish Hell over there," I said, suspicions beginning to weave in my head, "So why do you seem so intent on killing him?"

She blinked, caught up by the question. Looking immensely confused she looked from him to me, saying slowly, "Because if it's him, the set isn't complete. It has to be that dark one. If I remember correctly..." She trailed off thoughtfully before nodding, "The childhood friend. I definitely don't want to let that one slip! I tried so hard to get the set right, but it seems it needs a bit of shuffling... I guess I shouldn't have expected you to naturally drift into your position, either."

"You're trying to get the old Twelve Holy Knights together again," I guessed, my eyes narrowed dangerously, "You want to kill them."

"Of course I do," She snapped.

"Why?"

"Because of those eyes," She said softly, all anger seeming to drain, "Those eyes you're wearing right now. You always mocked me with them, you know. Always showing that fierceness, because you had things to protect. It's not fair. It's not fair of you to show those eyes. You shouldn't have anything left to protect. Because, just as you took all my important things, I will rob every glimpse of light from your life."

"I won't let you," I said simply. I didn't have to preach the fact. Didn't have to yell it angrily, as she did. Because it really was as simple as 'I won't let you'. Because I'll never let them die, or be hurt. Never again.

"I believe you," She said, smiling again, "Which is the only reason it's all the more gratifying to kill them. In the meantime, though, I can't risk killing you now. But rest assured; I will get rid of the false Hell Knight and bring you to the depths of despair. Until then..."

Darkness swirled around her like a tornado for a moment before fading, leaving nothing but silence in the warehouse.

This encounter told me a few, very vital, facts. The first of which was that, despite her young appearance, this mystery woman knew me from my past. Emphasis on 'Mystery' because, while my memory was perfect, I didn't remember this 'Richelle Redwin' at all. So I had to conclude that she was within the memories that I had yet to relive. Or my horrible memory of names had reached drastic proportions.

Secondly, it cleared the issue of my, and my companions, memories. It was clear from her words that she had, somehow, orchestrated all of this. Of my remembering, of us being drawn together again, and so on. And that, though I still didn't remember it, I had made it so that my brothers wouldn't remember, no doubt in an effort to protect them... though from what, I still wasn't certain.

Lastly, and most importantly, that I would have to kill her.

I shouldn't have cared for this last fact. If it was for my brothers, I would do anything. I had rivalled kings and defeated dragons for them. I did all these without mercy, although it was completely unbefitting the benevolent image of the Sun Knight. But for some reason, the thought of killing her...

"Grisia!" Neo suddenly roared, his face darker than the bottom of a burnt pan, "Get inside, now."

I did as he asked without any kind of emotion, still deep in my thoughts. Behind me Leaf had begun to hurriedly explain what had happened, stumbling over his words as he tried to rush them out. I pulled myself out of my thoughts, troubled.

"That's it," Neo snapped, gesturing Leaf and Hell in sharply before slamming the door, "You two, where do your loyalties lie, damn it?! You should have informed me, not Chasel."

"B-But we were told to-" Leaf started, looking pitifully worried.

"I don't give half a damn what you were told to do," Neo interrupted angrily, "I am the Sun Knight. Don't forget it."

"Don't talk to them like that," I said softly, old irritation rekindling. Nobody was allowed to talk to them like that, except for me.

"And you," Neo growled, sights turning to me as he completely ignored my words, "What the hell do you think you're doing, running off like that? Do you think this is a game? Or is this some kind of revenge for me running around without telling you?!"

"None of the above," I replied coldly.

"Then what? For justice?!" He was almost shouting now, "This is getting ridiculous! Can't you just realise your limitations, already?!"

"STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU'RE MY-" I broke off mid-shout, realising the complications of what I was about to say. 'Stop pretending you're my father', meant something completely different to him than it did for me. For me, it meant 'I remember you as teacher, not father'. For him...

The damage was already done, I could see. The colour had drained from his face, leaving him looking pale and haggard. His eyes were a well of pain, though I knew that he was far too proud to ever be seen crying. Perhaps that was why he promptly turned and left, the door to his study shutting firmly.

I collapsed onto the couch, burying my face into my hands and groaning.

I did it again. I screwed it up again.

"You two can stay in one of the guest bedrooms, for now," I said in a muffled voice, wishing even moreso that they hadn't been present to see that, "Down the hall, to your right."

I heard one steps of footsteps lead down the hall, heavy against the wooden flooring. Knowing that he had stayed behind, I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry too much," Leaf's voice came, soft and kind, "He knows you care about him. And he's also mature enough to know that it won't always be smooth sailing."

"You speak like you have experience in adoption," I said wryly, still not raising my head. I had read his files. I knew, for a fact, that he had two perfectly healthy parents.

"I don't," He admitted, a smile in his voice, "But trust me. You'll fix it. You always do."

I sighed, standing and beginning to walk away, not wanting to look him in the eye. I didn't want him to see my face, knowing how it must look right now. In a calm, unaffected voice I said, "You should leave first thing in the morning."

"You're doing it again, aren't you?" He asked quietly.

"Doing what?" I frowned, looking back to where he stood.

"Running around without telling us anything," He replied.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said stiffly, my hand positioned easily on the banister, "But I would really like to get to bed, so if you'll excuse me-"

"Are we still not good enough?" He asked suddenly, staring straight at me with sad eyes. I opened my mouth to ask what the hell he was talking about, but he interrupted me by whispering, "After all this time, can you still not trust us? Are we still not good enough, Sun?"

I stared at him in complete shock, my hand twitching in the banister. I could see it now. It was him. The Leaf that had yelled at me to rely on them, that had cried when I gave up my eyesight, that had angrily shot arrows at me as proof that he was strong enough to assist me. This was the Leaf that I knew.

"Y-You," I choked out, fear and hope battling out to win supremacy over my reaction.

He blinked, looking around himself in confusion, "What were you saying?"

The image was gone, leaving the Leaf without his memories standing in front of me.

"Go to sleep, and then get out," I said stiffly, stamping up the stairs and walking calmly to my bedroom. When I was inside I shut the door, sinking to the floor and looking at the ceiling.

No. Not now. They can't remember, not yet.

I have to keep them safe. If they know, they'll want to fight with me.

I need more time.

I had obviously gone out of my way to make them ignorant of their past, something I can only account to Richelle's presence.

But I didn't know why.

I needed to find out why I did it. Why she was after my blood.

And why...

Why do I feel so guilty about the thought of killing her?

Got another chapter out! Annnnddd it's 1;30 in the morning. ^-^' Luckily I have work later tomorrow...

I hope you liked this chapter, even if it was a bit confusing... I hope I explained it adequately. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask!

And yes, that was a little glimpse of the original Leaf. Mwuahaha.