Kinda sad I'm not getting as many reviews, but school has started and it doesn't really affect me, so... Only people being hurt are my stalking readers who are probably going to start scrambling after the last update in December just to get the reward in March (I've pushed it up from April).

Anyway... We've another ten updates under our belts, so it's time for me to do some recognizing! First up, thanks to Yue Asuka, tailsimp, and azure blue espeon again for continuing to review! Also thanks to Martel Irasia, CrimsonLaurana, KrazyxLove, and the anonymous stranger for becoming reviewers in the last ten chapters! You all are awesome and have gotten us up to a total of 40 reviews! (That's two a chapter, pretty good!) Next up... To CrimsonLaurana, RepLicaLover, RonaldBluemile, TacticalFan, Vastolord50, animebella09, and hector4349 for adding this story to their favorites lists! Gosh, that took a while...

So... Here we are back in Kairi's POV. And I apologize for being late with this chapter, but time just kinda flew away from me this week. Thursday came around and Mom was like "Yeah, tomorrow's the first" and I was all "What?! But that means NaNoWriMo is already here!" and she gave me this look that said "what the hell is wrong with you?" and I just kinda took off to my room to wake up my Nightmare gang. But you know what? They dumped the characters of a completely different story on me and told me to write their novel this year instead of doing book 2 of my Nightmare trilogy...

And then Dark decided to rally all of the Re:ARitA characters against me and they ran off to hide in one of the former Council Headquarters locations.

It's just been a bad week for writing...

Anyway! I don't own TotA, just my OC/As. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review! Or else I will unleash Alice and Nanalie on you all! (And that will NOT end well.)

Chapter 4.3 – Running from Daath
Part 21

I scowled and shot off another arrow at Danté. No, it wasn't really helping, but he was really trying my patience. "You should just shut up, you know that?" I grumbled. Danté growled and shot off another round at me, and I barely managed to dodge them.

After learning that Asch's technique got sloppy when he was pissed, I had spent most of this battle mocking the assassin I was fighting. Thankfully, the same applied to him, and—

Wait, are those Energies… moving on their own?

I jumped back and fired off another round of arrows before letting all eight of my spirit Energies enhance my sight. I raised an eyebrow at the bright white lines that now connected the silver- and gold-haired girl to her puppets, then looked around.

I yelped as one of them zipped past me, blocking an attack from Sync for the hooded boy he was fighting. Then I realized where the Energies were going.

"Hey, pay attention to your own battle, bitch!"

I hissed in pain as one of Danté's bullets tore through my upper right arm. That was going to make drawing my bow a nuisance. Then, after firing off another round of arrows and cursing Danté as I moved around him, I glanced back over at Sync's opponent, and my eyes widened in shock.

Was he going to shove that wedge-shaped mass of Energies into Sync's body?!

He turned toward me and I watched at the Energies dissipated. Guess he hadn't expected me to realize that he could manipulate them, too, but it was a good thing that he wasn't going to be able to hit Sync with those Energies, because he definitely would have screwed up Sync's Energy Core if he had.

I cursed and jumped away from Danté, slipping my bow around my torso and unsheathing my sword. My right arm was bleeding heavily, and my fingers were tingly. At this rate, I wouldn't be able to draw the bow back. So, time for Plan B.

I had just managed to get in close enough to Danté to strike when Sync's cry of pain caught my attention. I muttered a few colorful expletives and ran over, knocking the hooded boy to the side in an attempt to get between him and Sync.

I watched the expression on his face shift from triumph to shock, and then my own expression mirrored his.

'It can't be!'

The boy pulled his hood back into place, but he must have known I had seen him, seen who he truly was, impossible as the truth seemed to be.

Asch charged over then, and the boy jumped out of the way, then looked around a moment. "Danté, Star, come on," he called, backing away from where I was knelt over Sync next to the road.

The girl, Star, looked at his as if he had lost his mind, but the look in Danté's eye told me that he knew I had seen his companion's hood slip.

"But Zion!" Star protested. Zion scowled.

"Let's go!" he said, a level of authority around him that, had we been on the same side, even I wouldn't have argued with him. Then he turned and ran toward the forest, Danté and Star on his heels.

I looked down at Sync and blinked. Zion… it just couldn't be possible, could it?

"Is he gonna be okay?" Asch asked. I sighed and looked over the younger teen.

"No major physical wounds, and he's glowing strong enough that I've no doubt he'll live until I can examine him properly," I replied. Then I looked over my shoulder and grimaced. "But, Largo's catching up to us, and I'm worried that Zion might have done something to his Energy Core. We'll have to bring him with us, as far as Chesedonia, at least," I added.

Asch sighed. "The ferry to Chesedonia leaves in an hour. We'll just barely make it, the two of us. How the hell are we supposed to carry him, too?" he asked. I reached into my bag and started rummaging around before pulling out an Apple Gel triumphantly and popping it into my mouth.

Then I pulled Sync onto my back and stood, grinning at Asch. "I am so glad that Rabecah used to have a habit of randomly asking for piggy-back rides," I commented. Asch blinked once before he chuckled and shook his head.

The two of us continued along the path for a while before he spoke. "You know, I'm not sure if I want to meet your friends, or if I'd rather run for the hills if they're ever in the area," he told me. I frowned for a moment and thought on it.

"You should probably run. Now, Sync… Sync could probably survive them. Hell, he and Rabecah would probably spend the entire time trying to figure out who can be the most insulting to the rest of us. Of course… We know how to shut Rabecah up… Might not be such a good idea…" I muttered. Asch chuckled.

"You started on one tangent and then went off into your head. If nothing else, at least I'll have plenty amusement," he commented. I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up," I grumbled before frowning. Then I started running… well, as much as I could with an unconscious 5'5" teen on my back. Asch took off after me, apparently realizing that Largo was starting to catch up.

I had to slow to a walk a while later, but I smirked. "Well, at least now the bay is in sight," I said, panting. Asch nodded.

"How far back is Largo?" he asked. I frowned and reached out.

"Far enough that I can't feel him," I answered. He nodded.

"If the ferry isn't delayed, we'll be gone before he can reach the bay," Asch stated. I shrugged.

"Great, but I really don't want to keep carrying him," I said bluntly. "So let's just hurry up."

Asch chuckled, but once we hit the port, any amusement faded as a frown took the place of his previous smirk. "Wait. If we try to take Sync onboard, unconscious like he is…" he trailed off. I groaned.

"Put your coat on him and put the hood up," I ordered. Asch gave me a look. "I'll try to pass him off as my little brother again, but…" That got Asch to do something, and he took my suggestion, slipping Sync's arms through the coat one at a time before pulling the hood over his head. I frowned. "Pull the hood a little further down and take his mask off. He can yell and scream at me for it later if he wants, but it's a dead giveaway," I added. Asch sighed.

"If he wants to yell and scream, then I'll knock him over the head," he told me, slipping Sync's mask into my wing pack. "Let's go."

I nodded and adjusted Sync's position on my back before we started walking again. Asch was already pulling out the Gald he would need to pay for our fare.

"Excuse me? Is this the ferry to Chesedonia?" Asch called to one of the guards at the pier. The man nodded.

"Indeed it is. Got here just in time, didn't you, lad? Hmm… Who's that on your back, miss?" he asked. I smiled.

"He's my little brother. We were attacked on the road, and he's out of it, though he's not injured," I replied. The man got a knowing smile on his face.

"Aye, the monsters can be nasty. It's good for a young lad to have such caring older siblings," he said. Then he looked back at Asch and frowned. "How old are you, lad?"

Asch shot me a look, and I sighed. "He's sixteen, and he's not our brother, just a friend. I'm eighteen, and my brother's fourteen," I said. "Sir, we really do need to catch this ferry," I added. The man blinked and then chuckled.

"Ah, sorry lass. Right up here then, the man on deck will take your fares," he replied. "Apologies for the hold up. And tell your brother to stay out of trouble when he wakes!"

I laughed and headed up the plank after Asch. "I would, but he never listens anyway," I joked, hopping up onto the deck. And, just as Largo's consciousness touched on the edge of my range, the ferry started moving. I turned to Asch and grinned, and he rolled his eyes.

Once we were in a cabin, with Sync tucked into one of the two bottom bunks, I turned to Asch and put my hands on my hips.

"Well, that was an amusing conversation," I stated. Asch raised an eyebrow.

"Are you really eighteen?" he wondered. I shook my head, then frowned as I started doing some quick mental math.

"Will be in about two and a half months," I finally replied. "Oh well… How old are you, anyway?" I asked, though I knew I had been right. Asch's seventeenth birthday wasn't until the end of the year. But, he didn't know I knew that.

"You guessed right. I don't turn seventeen for another four months," he said. I shrugged, then looked over at Sync, then back at him, re-asking my question silently. Asch shrugged. "No idea. I think he's fourteen, though. He was definitely the youngest of us, though with the way Arietta acted you never would have known."

Hmm… So, his birthday was probably a little earlier in the year. Maybe I should start writing birthdays down in my journal so I didn't forget them…

Shit!

I scrambled over to where I had dropped my bags and started sorting through them, looking for something I had hidden when Asch and I had been stuck in a body together.

I pulled the small green book out of my bags and held it up like I'd found the greatest treasure in the world. "Hello, beautiful! Miss me?" I asked teasingly before grabbing a pen and running over to the table in the middle of the cabin.

Asch was making a face, and I stuck my tongue out at him before I started writing… and writing… and writing… Well, I did have… uh… nine days to write for, today included…

I was about halfway through my scribblings for the day before when Asch finally poked his head over my shoulder and popped off with the question I had been half-expecting for the last… oh, half hour. Wow.

"What in the world…? Are you writing in code?" he wondered. I gave him a pointed look.

"Yes, because I know there are some people in this world that like to stick their noses into places that said organs do not belong," I told him. Asch's expression shifted into that of a kid who's gotten his hand caught in the cookie jar again before he stepped away.

"Right… Just wondering…" he excused himself. I laughed and went back to writing. With only a day and a half to do, it wouldn't take me too long now, would it?

Fifteen minutes later, after a lot of speculating over the identity of the boy who had been fighting Sync, I gave up and closed the journal, slipping it and the pen back into my bags and then wandering over to the bunk across from Sync's to sleep. It had been a long day, and I was very tired.

I reminded myself that I needed to check over Sync in the morning before I fell asleep.