Hey guys! Lots of stuff been going on for Ferris in life outside of fanfiction. Haven't had much time to work on the stories. This chapter is shorter but I've got notes drawn up for the next one already. I know this time of year everybody is busy. Look at the long reviews! 83

XxYourXxDisasterXx: Chapter 18: Yes, the cat is dead. (afika: Aaaaah! *runs away from reviewer*) Wow. So you want them to let Minkah off the leash, eh? (Minkah: -blink- They put me on a leash?) (Malik: Kinky!) (Yami: Hey!) lol Afika needs to get on with dying already? :) "And here I thought you might be annoyed with my constant threatening and death plotting towards your" -scoffs- On the contrary. It's amusing. Chapter19: Yeah the prisoner was the very unfortunate Mr. Bakura. :P Too bad for him...again. (Mr. Bakura: I really hate type-casting) heh. Chapter 20: "You WANT to know how Re defeated Apopis, Ryou.. thats something you NEED to know." haha! I love it! You think he'd catch on, you know? Since it was the title of the chapter and all. (Ryou: I'm a character! I don't see that part!) Oh. Right.

Memnoch's Heart: How's life treating Kana? :D Tis been a while since I've heard from you. Yes, only people should die. Animals shouldn't...well, most animals. Gore doesn't creep me out all that much. I just don't like to overdo it the majority of the time. You've gotta be careful with your gore. ;) It's the horror movie children that creep me out. -shudders- So you like when Afika monologues? "I guess there's nothing better to do when you're sitting there with Ryou. Its either monologue or rape him sideways." O.o (Ryou: I like monologues!)

cgflower: You liked reading about Ryou getting his face cut up? (Ryou: You're all sickos!) Yeah! (Ryou: You wrote it, moron!) Oh...right. -grins sheepishly- I love how you're unsure about Afika's true feelings, especially when it comes to Minkah's mother. (Minkah: Get away from my mother, you sick freak!) He was, like, nine at the time. I don't think he had a thing for your mom. (Minkah: -glaring- You never know with him!) (Afika: -.-;) "having ryou and afika alone is a room is really fun. :D in a fun to read way, not as in fun to be Ryou stuck on a couch talking to afika." My thoughts exactly.

Qwanrad: New reviewer --as you said! -tackles- Hi! Yes, Kek is a huge pervert! Me thinks he gets turned on by torture (of other people, though I wouldn't be surprised if he's a masochist as well) Oh Bakura usually gets it worse than any of the other characters...but Yami Marik dies the most often out of all of them. (Malik: -sobbing- Not again!) lol I try to make sure it's clear I'm going to have some characters ooc in a story. This one is AU, so I figured it put me in the clear to stretch things a bit more. Why Minkah? I looked through a bunch of names after deciding I wanted him to have an arabic name and it was the winner of the list I picked out. As for your question on Misa: She's mentioned in the scene at the bus station back in chapter...5 or something like that. She isn't mentioned as much in this half of the story as in Son of Apophis. No orange tic tacs? D8 Sacrilege!

Peepz:"thats still kind of a strange stopping place. But it is much better than a cliffie, if you had a cliffie I would scream." Man, I shoulda made a cliffie. :D That was a very disgusting mental image you had of Kek getting his nuts fed to him. :P (Malik: Now THAT would hurt) (Afika: No shit, Sherlock) "I think Afika has some serious issues." (Malik: Understatement!)

Dragon-Tooth: "Ryou with his brother's scar... me like" lol I should have known it would be you of all people that would. XD I find a lot of morbid things funny...which can turn a situation awkward on many occasions. :P I don't think I'm to the same extreme as you, but that's up for debate I suppose. I don't unleash it all here 'cause it would ruin the story. Niu's still better than Afika, eh? (Niu: What do you mean "still"?)

Sagira98: Someone's mad at me for the torture scene? XD "Seriously torture Yugi or something." (Yugi: Oi!) "What did Ryou ever do to you?" -cracks knuckles- We don't need to get into that right now. (Ryou: -glare-) We're still learning about Afika. Just as with Minkah narrating his childhood, you have to wonder when to start questioning. "I don't want to feel sympathetic to Afika. You make that very hard in this chapter." Mwahahahahahahaha! XDXDXD

Flacks: -blanches- ANOTHER person who doesn't like orange tic tacs? What's the matter with you people? D8 "I expected Ket to stab his eye or pull it out or something… =\ oh well." (Ryou: What do you mean "Oh well"? You wanted him to do that?) The knife sharpening thing...yes that is brought up by Ryou in this chapter. lol I'm sure it's quite sharp if not ruined by this point. ;) Afika is "too RUINED" to be saved, eh? (Afika: Damn it.)

dragonlady222: "Kek is a dead man and refuses to believe that he will lose" (Kek: WHAT?) lol A lot of people seem to think Afika is a dead man. (Jou: Why can't they BOTH be dead men? I'd be cool with that) (Kek: WHAT?) (Afika: Has he gone deaf? -ish hopeful-)

Fallin-Alone-Scared-Lost: Avast! An Afika fan remains! Afika, look! (Afika: Like i care) Little ingrate. "I will smile when Kek bites the dust lol." (Kek: WHAT?) (Afika: Is that all you can say now? Sheesh.)

This chapter will be dedicated to Qwanrad (despite your aversion to orange tic tacs, lol). Not too much action in this chapter but lots of other goodies. XD The song is by Breaking Benjamin.

"Breath"

I see nothing in your eyes, and the more I see the less I like.
Is it over yet in my head?
I know nothing of your kind, and I won't reveal your evil mind.

Is it over yet? I can't win.

So sacrifice yourself, and let me have what's left.
I know that I can find the fire in your eyes.
I'm going all the way, get away, please.

This will be all over soon.
Pour salt into the open wound.
Is it over yet? Let me in.

I'm waiting, I'm praying, realize, start hating!

You take the breath right out of me.
You left a hole where my heart should be.
You got to fight just to make it through,
'Cause I will be the death of you.

Chapter 21: Necessary

(Honda's POV)

"Th-This isn't gonna work!" Jou manages between chattering teeth.

Niu leads the way through the deep snow that we sink up to our thighs in. Each of us carries a gun. Because of the impending dangers we don't bother to conceal our weapons. The only people we meet out here will want to kill us. Even our potential allies Kasiya and Severa will most likely opt for violence. Niu's presence might halt that.

"It's too far," I pant as we force our way through the snowdrifts, legs and lungs burning. "We're going to freeze to death walking to a possible mode of transportation." What cruel irony.

The army camp is our best option. Those monstrous vehicles they used would get through this snow better than even snowmobiles. Whether Kek destroyed them or not when he attacked the soldiers is yet to be seen. That's not our main problem though. At these odds we're not going to make it to the encampment at all.

Niu is checking the radar in his gloved hand wiping a thin layer of snow from it with his thumb. "There is something out there."

We continue moving forward as he assesses things. "Which way?"

He takes a moment before confidently pointing slightly to our right. "It is large."

"Lemme see." Jou trudges over and gazes at the small screen. "Geez, what is that? A house?"

"It is moving."

My eyes widen at the rumbling like thunder through the mountains. Niu and Jou both look up, all of us staring in the direction the noise came from. It's the same as whatever is showing up on the radar. I search my brain for an answer to what could make such a noise.

"I study those vehicles," Niu reminds us as it gets louder. "That is what it is."

Jou rounds on him, nearly tumbling over in the snow in the process. "You're sayin' Kek's coming?"

Our new friend grimaces. "Probably."

"Shit. He could run us down no problem!" Jou is looking about frantically for a place to hide.

Niu shakes his head. "There is no place to go. We should wait."

I hate to admit our options are few. Still, that doesn't mean I'm in complete agreement with Niu. "Okay we'll wait."

"Wat!"

I glance at Niu. "But let's move into the trees that aren't so scattered that it won't be able to follow us."

Brandishing his gun, Niu nods stiffly. "We must hurry. I think there more than one."

Jou's eyes are wide like saucers. "What did you say?"

Niu motions for us to follow, heading for a thicket of trees too dense for the army vehicles to penetrate. "There more than one."

"And Kek can't be driving all of them," I mutter as Jou trips and nearly falls flat on his face; saved by Niu grabbing his arm.

"Exactly," the tech genius agrees somberly as he drags Jou along into what safety the fir trees provide. "They will have radars."

"Plus our tracks," I note with tension building inside of me. "They know we're here."

Jou releases a light whimper earning a sympathetic glance from Niu. Those dark eyes only linger on the blonde for a short second before returning to our approaching possible nemesis. Just as Niu had said, two massive army vehicles roar as they come into view. I take in their conditions, the charred sides like they'd gone straight through a fire. The front bulletproof windshield of one has a diagonal crack travelling along it. They're damaged but still operable. Niu has noticed as well. He remains silent, waiting for some type of signal or sign as to who is driving them.

A voice booms over some loudspeaker from within. "Apophis assassins! Drop your weapons and surrender now!"

Grinning humorlessly at us, Jou croaks, "Well, it's not Kek."

"Then who the hell is it?"

Niu readies his weapon, eyes fixated on the vehicles. "It seem not all of them died."

"Eh? What's he talking about?" Jou nudges me in the side.

Comprehension hits me. "Stragglers."

(Ryou's POV)

Time is unmeasured as I slip in and out of consciousness, unable to cling to awareness. The side of my face covered by bloodied bandages is numb. I wonder if it is because of the wound or if I have frostbite. It wouldn't be surprising with the freezing state of our current residence. With stiff fingers I pull Afika's coat tighter around myself in a last attempt to keep my remaining warmth. He's sitting hunched over in the dark with a knife that he's been whetting for far too long. It has to be worn down to a stub by now. What is he doing?

"Aren't…" I have to clear my throat, lips chapped as I find my voice. "Aren't you cold?"

The grating continues and he doesn't look up. The only sound is the rock or whatever he's using running across the blade. I don't attempt to rise, knowing I'll just wind up unconscious again. I'm helpless and I don't know what he wants. I can't move. I don't have any way of defending myself. I'm not even sure who I should be defending myself from.

He doesn't act human. Who knows if he ever has? I've heard of people who are born psychotic. Is that what he is? A person who effortlessly crosses the borderlines of right and wrong? A person who feels no guilt, remorse, or shame? I'm no psychiatrist, though I've learned a great deal having Marik as a friend. We had to be trained about his episodes and how to deal with different situations with him. If that is the case, then Afika is completely unpredictable, unable to relate to anyone, incapable of experiencing emotions as everyone else does, unfeeling for anyone…

I study the outline of the troubled assassin with my good eye, pondering how he became the person he is today. This could have been my brother, Niu, or even Malik. This heartless unfeeling individual could have been any of them.

It's easy to hate a person for what they've done. It's even easier when the person is unrepentant. Then what is this tugging in my chest when I look at him? –when I tell myself to despise him? Is it because I'm comparing him to Minkah? I don't like how many similarities they share. When I reminded myself that my brother has changed it plants a seed in my mind as to whether such could happen for Afika too. Does he just need the opportunity?

It won't matter. Afika killed Minkah's mother. He tricked my brother for all these years. There will be no forgiveness for him. And he doesn't want it.

I'm not helpless. I can still speak. So far I've reached him to some degree. I've discovered much from simple dialogues with Afika. Then again, if he is a sociopath he would have no trouble lying. Just as acting out joy, love, and even anger, lying is a second nature to him. He's been creating alternate realties his entire life and lived them out.

He speaks in third person when telling a story about himself. Is that because it isn't true or is it a defense mechanism? A way of distancing himself from the event?

"Are you cold?" I repeat barely above a whisper.

"I fail to see the relevance to your question."

I watch in fascination as he relentlessly works on the knife as if his purpose is to grind it into dust. "You gave me your coat."

"And now you are stating the obvious." He finally looks at me. "I prefer when you are asleep."

"I'm f-fine," I assure him.

"You misunderstand. Your persistent questions irk me." He returns to his work.

His change of moods puts me on edge again. For a while there he wouldn't stop talking. He even was going to tell me an ancient Egyptian myth. Now it's like he wishes I weren't even here. Why is that? Did he need to get something off his chest? Had he never told anyone about Minkah's mother? About my mother and Amane? Minkah doesn't know that I was spared by his partner for his sake. How many secrets have been thrown onto Afika? How many lies has he himself weaved until he became entangled within them? Has he totally lost touch with reality?

"What will you do…when my brother gets here?"

"He is not your brother."

The venom in his words is like flashing hazard signs in the night. Afika has becomes motionless, head raised, shoulders straight as he gazes at me. In this moment I understand what it means to be truly powerful. It is striking such fear in someone without having to say or do a single thing. Kek has an imposing presence physically with his massive body. Afika isn't so lofty and muscular, yet I feel the same terror towards him as I did Kek. I realize from his reaction my voice is my weapon.

"But what will you do? Are you going to fight him?" I force myself onward despite the churning in the pit of my stomach.

Afika regards me in a painfully drawn out silence before speaking quietly. "My plans for us will be achieved."

I would shake my head but for the injuries from Kek. "Things have changed. Minkah has changed." I want him to see the truth and help him somehow if it's possible. Before my brother arrives I have to know if Afika is beyond saving. "Can't your plans modify? Couldn't you make some alterations?"

"Why would I do that?" he scoffs.

"For Minkah's sake. He has friends now. We're his family…"

"You are nothing!" he hisses at me with pure malice gleaming in his eyes. "Do not put yourself on a pedestal or give credit where it is not due."

I'm taken aback, shifting nervously. "I know you raised him…but he cares about us too."

"That matters little. I will not allow it."

"You talk like you own him but you don't!" I growl at the assassin that I should be cowering away from. "We don't own him either! He doesn't belong to anyone. He belongs with us!"

The slicing of something whizzing by my ear silences me. Carefully turning my head I find the hilt of the knife he'd been whetting, the weapon buried within the side of the couch. Despite his anger there is still accuracy, to my luck. Afika rises slowly and I wait for him to do something similar to Kek. Never have I seen him lose his temper. From the way my brother spoke of his lover, Afika keeps himself in check. This is really bad.

With his back to me he steps around the chair he'd been sitting in and picks something up from the floor. The glint of the new blade in the dim light is an unvoiced threat as he gingerly runs a finger along the hilt as if mesmerized by it. I consider grabbing the knife from within the couch but quickly dismiss such an action as suicide on my part.

"Life is about control. Everything in it…a fight for survival," he murmurs while gazing at the weapon in his hands. "While she accepted this, she fell because she went against it."

She? Is he talking about Minkah's mother again? How could he be so calm speaking of her after what he did? Does he really feel his actions are justified?

"At least she gave you a chance!" I whisper viciously.

This receives a dry chuckle in response. "Of course she did. She gave them all a 'chance'."

I stare at him in confusion. "Who?"

In the dark I can hear the smirk he's wearing. "The children she collected for Apophis."

(Minkah's POV)

"When we find them I go in first."

Malik grabs a hold of my arm halting the two of us. "And let you do something completely irrational? I don't think so!"

I rip myself from his grasp angrily. "Kek already has Ryou. It sounded like he was taking my brother to Afika."

"Kek said Afika took Ryou. Why would he do that? That would send you after Afika. I thought he wanted to take down Afika himself?" Malik asks as we begin moving again in search of the nearest house in hope there will be snowmobiles there. "Those two hate one another, right?"

"Ryou is leverage," I snarl pushing my muscles to their limit. "Afika would want him too. He'll want Ryou if he believes I'm still under his spell."

Malik struggles beside me mutely for a while. Both of us are in poor physical condition thanks to all the drama lately. It would be so easy to curl up in the snow and never reawaken. That is not an option; not with Ryou and Yami's lives on the line. Those people back there – they are my family. Mr. Mutou said so. I'm ready to leave this life behind me if I can manage. I know Niu is eager for the same. The Mutous will embrace him as family in a heartbeat. Niu, after all, no longer has a family to go home to thanks to Kek and Afika.

The two guns I carry are heavier than any weapon I've ever carried. It has not so much to do with my health as it does with who I will use them against. Kek will die. I could care less by whose hand. Severa and Kasiya will have to choose sides without delay. I won't give them time to reflect upon it. It's Afika I want to face.

It's his blood I want coating my hands.

My mother's sacrifices for he and I will not have been in vain. She made the mistake of trusting him just as I did. Just as we all did at some point and time. Even the elders were fools in the end, killed by their own dog. I have to give Kek credit: He's probably the only person who has never once been misled by the black-haired assassin.

"It should be coming up soon," Malik's voice drags me from my internal ranting. "We have to tread cautiously. Any of Apophis could be there."

I there are so many tracks in the snow from both vehicle and booted feet that it's hard to say. I study the ground while Malik continually scans the area for danger. Overlapping prints, some more faded than others, tell the intricate story of what took place here. My eyes move over the blemished snow taking in every detail. Slowing, I draw the rifle from where it's slung over my back.

"Minkah?"

The wind moaning in my ears I manage, "Kek brought Ryou here."

"Kek?" Malik repeats hoarsely. "Kek had him all along?"

I nod, breath lodged in my throat. He trails me as we make our way to the large two story house. We approach it with caution, alert for any signs of life or traps. I hear Malik tense as we near the far back of the residence. A long wire hangs from the roof to the ground. At the bottom is a depression where someone landed after sliding down. My heartbeat triples in time at the blood staining the snow a light shade of red. There's a lot.

"Ryou," the Egyptian besides me whispers.

I note the footprints that took the impact are from boots. Ryou wasn't wearing any boots. These prints are too small to belong to Kek or Kasiya. And Severa would have no reason to steal my brother away from Kek. Only one candidate remains. Two sets of snowmobiles lead away from the house. One was parked just ten feet away. The other came from the garage—most likely Kek's. They go in the same direction, one leaving a droplets of blood scattered behind.

"Afika has him." I'm not sure whether to feel relieved or more afraid for Ryou as my mind processes this new development. "And Kek went after them."

(Afika's POV)

"What do you mean?" the teen asks me warily. "Minkah's mother wouldn't work for Apophis!"

I fight not to laugh at the absurdness of his conviction. "You have suddenly become an expert on her? Tell me: what do you really know about her? Actual facts – not the blathering based on the twisted memories of an ignorant child."

He opens and closes his mouth, the bandages on the right side giving him some difficulty. More than that, his uneducated presumptions are casting him further into the shadows created by the fictional world Nimr and I built. The second in command of Apophis was cunning and knew how to take control. If he had wanted, he could have overtaken Fenyang. Instead he chose to stand back and let a lesser man be the head of the organization.

Nimr came up with the best strategies. He became second to Fenyang after his predecessor's failure to capture members of the Rabiya family alive, instead ending in a massacre. Clever as he was, Nimr kept close watch of the media coverage and documentation on the family tree. He found a missing link. A young girl. Her father or another older family member had probably saved her amidst the chaos. With that knowledge, he found the girl herself: Dimah Rabiya.

I raise my eyebrows in amusement at the angry look Ryou is directing at me. "Why the hostility towards me? She became a member of Apophis before I was even born."

The teen holding a hand to his bandaged face moves his head back and forth in disbelief. "You're lying…"

"Why would I lie about something like that? What would that achieve?"

"You lied to Minkah about it!" he accuses.

"And with good reason." I turn the blade in my hands over and over. "The truth would have been more damaging."

"If he knew his mother was part of Apophis then you wouldn't have had to make up some elaborate story!" Ryou presses, determined to catch me. "He would have gladly followed her!"

I smirk at his fruitless efforts, wandering over to a wall where picture frames hold strangers' images. "What do you think of these people? The camera captures a single moment of their lives. But it doesn't say who they really are. If a lie makes you better, makes you stronger, isn't it for the best to allow it?" Examining the blade I repeat what I told him earlier: "Our lives are the realities others have shaped for us. The truth is what you believe. It has nothing to do with actuality."

Ryou's brown eye is horrified. "What is wrong with you? That's not how life is at all!"

"Not your life perhaps," I shrug. "It seems we cannot come to an understanding."

"I don't want to understand you!" he spits fiercely, pale fingers curled around my coat. "If I can give Minkah answers then I'll do what I must. But don't think for a moment that I…!"

"That is false and we both know it," I cut in smoothly stopping him in his tracks. "I spent time with you, remember? You confided in me so much. You've barely changed since then. A bit more of a backbone maybe." He bristles as I near him. "And things that have been spoken of regarding his mother shall not be repeated to anyone -- Minkah especially. I haven't spent my entire life keeping this from him only to have the likes of you tear down all my dedication."

"Dedication?" The fire in his eyes is inextinguishable. "Try obsession! You're trying to fool yourself into believing you were protecting him when you actually just wanted something you could control! Minkah said you were Apophis' puppet. Everyone controlled you!"

For some reason this strikes a nerve. It's as if he is digging underneath my skin. More and more I have found myself in less control of myself over the past two months. My eyes wander to the knife embedded in the couch by his head. I threw a weapon at him and left it there. More than that, I lost my temper for long enough to act so irrationally. It's as with the mirrors back in the previous mansion. Was I drugged then too? No, while the side effects linger, it shouldn't be enough to manipulate me to this degree. That means it's something else. And that's worse. It means I don't have an explanation and, therefore, I cannot stop it.

Troubled at my own condition, I avert my attention to Ryou as a distraction from my predicament. A part of me is eager to rip this teen to shreds and revel in his screams. He deserves a death of agony for all of the problems he has caused. Besides, he's weak. If he were worth saving he wouldn't be in the state he is now. Minkah was at this stage once, but he had been a young child. There comes a point where it's too late to change someone to that extreme, to make them stronger.

Another part of me that I'm trying to suppress sees the uncanny resemblance to Minkah. This brat is nothing more than a cheap imitation. Besides similar physical characteristics they are nothing alike. The teen is actually more like me: He wants Minkah. He wants to take him away from me. Just like Ishtar. Just like Kaiba. They all wanted to possess him when he wasn't theirs for the taking.

My plans will not be foiled. He will not turn his back on me. I've done too much for him. He owes me for everything he is. When all the cards are laid out I will be the victor. Then I'll get the rest of them out of the picture permanently.

(Ryou's POV)

My words bothered him. He couldn't even conceal this fact from me. This is worse than I originally thought. He's losing himself. We thought he was unstable before. I'm afraid to press the idea of him being manipulated by Apophis any further. I'm frightened of the outcome of such a conversation with him.

I am having a difficult time in figuring out how to address him. As a peer? As someone superior to me? As an enemy? Which is the most beneficial for everyone? I brace myself emotionally.

"She and Minkah were your family, weren't they? The closest thing you ever had to a family?" He doesn't look at me, fixated on the blade in his gloved hands. "Minkah wants that again. Afika, can't you understand that?"

"No."

It wasn't rushed. He just said it plain and simple. Straightforward with no hesitation.

"You cannot compare our psyches when they are polar opposites," he informs me with a trace of aversion. "And that woman was no family to me. Whatever Minkah told you is nothing but a muddled conjecture based on scraps of discarded childhood memories." Afika stares at the window with its drawn and tied curtains. "She and I shared many similarities to some respect. Through her faults I learned many lessons on survival and how the world really operates."

This isn't making any sense. It's nothing like what Minkah told us. "She was in hiding along with Minkah. They were hiding from Apophis, not working for them. If she had anything to do with them it was only for Minkah's sake!"

His lips twitch either to conceal a scowl or smirk. "What cruel twists fate can take. The only reason Minkah is alive is because of Apophis. It is the sole reason he exists."

How deluded is Afika? Can he hear what's coming out of his own mouth?

"She wasn't some whore like your father let her out to be," he informs me. "Like many of us, she played whatever role was required for her assignment. Unlike his mother, Minkah never had to seduce or submit to a patron or target before Kaiba."

My heart drops into the pit of my stomach as I listen closely to him, delving beyond what he's openly admitted to me. "Did you…" I breathe the cold air unsteadily. "Did you have to do those things? Seduce and s-submit?"

He regards me with those piercing eyes. "If it was required for a mission, yes." Afika takes note of my aghast expression. "You overreact too often. We each became accustomed to our duties whatever they were. I didn't have to go as far with you in Domino. Just as the others who survived, I adapted quickly to what was necessary."

"Necessary?" I echo hollowly. Just as with my brother earlier on, Afika shows no hint that he understands what has happened to him. It isn't even that he's steeled himself from trauma. He simply accepted it. Instead of sex it was part of the 'game' he was playing with his current victims and patrons. To gain their trust or reel them in he clearly did whatever was required of him. Whatever was necessary. I became an object of his character's affections when we were in Domino. I was not the first. A bitter taste fills my mouth like poison as I piece together the fragments Afika has offered me.

"My father…He was Minkah's mother's target then?" I ask quietly.

"Hn," Afika grunts in acknowledgment. "She had to get close to him. He was heading an expedition Apophis had their eye on. Minkah wasn't a part of the plan, let's just say," he adds dryly. "The leaders became much more vigilant when it came to their assassins as well as the physical conditions of the targets."

The black-haired killer paces slowly around his end of the room. Perhaps part of the reason is to keep warm. Even with his gloves and warm clothes he no longer has a coat. The heat in this house isn't on.

More so than the chill are the daunting truths that surround him. He's suffocating inside the lies. Any beseeching from me will not reach him. In listening to him I understand nothing I say matters to him. There are only two people that know how to get him to listen that I am aware of: Kek and Minkah.

And they both want him dead.

There's nothing I can do for him. I should accept this cold hard fact but I cannot. Too many similarities. He's too much like Minkah.

"But she kept him," I whisper after a drawn out hush. "She loved him."

"Not at first," he rejoins in a tone etched with sarcasm. "Wanted to abort him as did most of the leaders. She wasn't useful to them pregnant."

"She protected him…!"

"Because it was ordered," Afika interrupts in a voice thin and cutting like a knife. "One of our superiors developed a plan in which she—now a social outcast thanks to the pregnancy—could roam from town to town. She was merely another girl down on her luck. But she was strong and knew how to defend herself. Because of this, children living on the streets flocked to her. Then Apophis would subsequently set up a raid once she had gathered a generous herd." He flicks his wrist as if tossing something into the wind. "Then it was on to the next slum hole."

I can't believe my ears. How could they do that to people? – to children? Wasn't there a line that even they couldn't cross?

Afika is staring at the pictures on the wall. It's hard to see, but he looks troubled. Is it because of the topic? Is it trying for him to relive those times?

"That's how you joined Apophis, isn't it?" I murmur. "Minkah's mother tricked you."

"No, she did not. Not in that sense anyway," he adds spitefully, acid burning in his words. "She wore many cloaks, had many faces just like the rest of us. She would need to though, wouldn't she? It was said she could blend into any crowd."

He slips his thick gloves from his hands and distractedly puts them into his pocket. His right hand is wrapped securely in white bandages. All the while his eyes are locked on the frames full of smiling faces lining the wall. With a single finger he traces each person as if he were reading Braille.

"She could be anyone she wanted."

"Like you," I utter quietly.

"Not in that same sense. I could tell…she felt it. She could feel it."

The warmness is mixed with a resentment as if he can't decide what he should think. The vagueness of his statements makes it impossible to understand what he means.

"She felt what?" I probe.

"It didn't have to be a character. She said she'd teach me how to be like that." Afika is no longer speaking to me, transfixed with ghosting his fingertip over the faces of strangers. "She promised many things. I learned much from her."

This is a glimmer of hope. "What kinds of things?" I'm genuinely curious.

The spell breaks. His hand stills. Holding it up in front of a picture, his fingers slowly curl into a tight trembling fist as his voice drops. Afika's mood changes again in the blink of an eye, growing as cold as the frigid air around us.

"She taught me how to lie."

(Honda's POV)

We watch warily as soldiers file out of the vehicles, weapons raised and ready. They're not here for negotiations nor are they interested in any type of deals this time. It doesn't matter that Jou and I aren't from Apophis. At this point whoever they point the finger at will be dubbed an assassin. No one will question them. They lost the majority of their comrades. These ones must have been elsewhere when the camp was attacked.

"Any bright ideas now?" Jou asks clutching his own gun tightly.

Niu's dark eyes dart to and fro as if he can keep track of all of them at once. I hold my breath as if doing so will keep the bloodthirsty soldiers from finding us. This is a critical moment that I didn't prepare for. I knew the chances of us fighting an Apophis assassin were likely. But the army? As much as I loathe them for all they've done to us, they're only out here because they're trying to stop Apophis. I tell myself that many of them are just in it for the glory, but even with their hearts in the wrong place they still aren't the monsters I was expecting to battle.

At the booming voice over the speaker and the crushing of show beneath heavy boots, I comprehend that this is what real killing is like. No matter how despicable a person your enemy is, in the end they remain a human being. By the lines driven into Niu's features I can determine he feels the same.

This is no longer about who's right or wrong. It's about helping our friends. Each group, whether it be the assassins, army, or our friends, are all trying to survive. And none can do that while the other two are still alive. A lot of people are going to die tonight.

"Are you ready?" Niu places a gloved hand on my shoulder.

Bandages from his wrist have come loose and are sticking out from his sleeve. I stare at them and then at his eyes. He is already weary and it hasn't even begun. How far do we have to go to save ourselves? And can we do it without becoming the people we're fighting?

"Isn't that Lieutenant Hiroki?" Jou hisses as a tall figure emerges for a moment between the trees.

My finger moves to the trigger without delay at the very mention of the man. Niu releases me and reluctantly takes aim.

"There are at least thirty of 'em!"

"Stick together, guys!" I instruct in a steady voice.

A man's torso comes into my line of vision. I can't believe this is happening...that it's come to this…

"Astagh-firu Allah…"

I release the breath I've been holding.

The sound of gunfire erupts from the almost peaceful stillness.

Kek: Where the hell am I?

lol

Astagh-firu Allah: God forgive me

So next chapter it's time for the blood and some more truth!

Malik: I could care less! *stares at Yami's unconscious form* Nooo!

Ryou: Just tell me I still have my eye and I'll be happy.

Really? That's all?

Ryou: I wasn't saying that in a literal sense! Of course that's not even close to satisfactory!

So we've got to do something about there being orange tic tac haters. *shakes head sadly* Oh! I did try the sugarless cherry ones! VERY good!

Afika: Once again there is no relevance to the end notes.

Please reviewsies! I shall hopefully be updating AIF soon! --have part of the next chapter complete.