Note from Author: As always, these characters do not belong to me, they belong to Namco Bandai. Of course as always if Namco Bandai is willing to give Asch to me, I would be happy to take him. But until then, all I can do is play around with them in my writings. This is a creation of my own overactive imagination and serious boredom, nothing more and nothing less.

Again, apologies for how long this took, I usually write scenes at work and type them there as much as possible, but work became very busy during the last month, now that I am a bit more used to it, I can get more done. And I admit, it turned out to be longer than I thought, I hope everyone enjoys the focus on the Oracle Knights for part of the chapter. I had a lot of fun writing some of those scenes, and if anyone has things they would love to see of that nature, I would be happy to include anything I can fit into the plot somehow.

Also, have some bad news and good news to give. I'll start with the bad, because the good won't make sense until I give the bad. The bad news is that this will be the last update until December. I have signed up for NanNoWriMo this year and this will cause the amount of updates to go down.

But the good news is, my NanNo entry is the next part of this fic (since it does end an arc and start leading into the next one well, it works). So that means that the closer I come to being a winner, the more you guys will get in December. If I do make the goal of 50,000 words in November, that is somewhere between six and ten chapters. And my beta isn't entering, so she can get me edits throughout the month, which means updates will come soon after November ends, though I do not guarantee one on December 1st (but no later than the 5th, unless my work schedule changes again). So I hope that the larger amount of updates in December will make up for the lack in November.

And I wish to thank Trystle for the suggestion for the second to last scene involving the God-Generals, and darkangel for the idea on how to get Mieu back into the story (I had almost given up hope on that, but her suggestion helped me make the last scene better). I also wish to thank those in the Asch fanclub on the Tales forum for suggestions on what the God-Generals wear for PJs (though the Jade plushie was my idea).

It was a good thing that Kiran and the others had their weapons ready, since they were attacked almost immediately by Nepenthes and Cantabile. Both of their attackers were very fast, perhaps not quite as fast as Sync, but with both of them at that speed, it was going to be a much harder battle than the fight with Sync and Largo had been.

Cantabile quickly moved out of sight of the group by going up into a nearby tree. She readied herself to cast a fonic arte while her partner distracted the others.

Jade noticed that Cantabile immediately slipped out of sight and was readying her self to cast some sort of arte while her partner attempted to distract them. He couldn't identify the target, but he could at least force her into view. If he could hurt her somehow, all the better. Considering the relationship between the two, doing so would likely affect her partner as well.

The Malkuth Colonel knew that these two would make it a very difficult battle, even if everything went as planned, which he knew from experience never happened. He came up with the simplest plan possible for now, the simpler the plan, the less likely anything would go drastically wrong. He would deal with Cantabile and her casting, the others would distract Nepenthes and keep him away. He relayed this information to the others as best as he could without letting on to their enemy what they planned.

Nepenthes laughed at this, "All of you are taking me on? Don't forget about Cantabile."

"O violent torrent, Splash!" Jade smirked. "No, I don't think we forgot her."

A large stream of water came pouring down upon the tree Cantabile was in just as a large ball of fire came from it. It was good timing on her part, finishing her cast just before the branch she was on gave way from all the excess weight. She had no problem landing on two feet when the branch gave out, it was as if she had expected that to happen all along.

The ball of fire Cantabile had produced narrowly missed its target, instead hitting the tree behind Jade. Strange, he thought, he didn't even have to try to dodge it. His explanation for this came when Anise yelled, "Colonel, watch out!" as she fended off an attack upon herself.

Jade moved away in just enough time to avoid being hit by the falling tree behind him. He had to admit, he was impressed by her skill, that was indeed a good trick. She would definitely make this battle quite interesting. Both of them began casting again.

"Wow, Cantabile sure is mean to her husband, making him attack three while she goes after the Colonel," Anise remarked.

"What did you say?" Nepenthes bellowed to the young girl who shrank away in terror to avoid being grabbed by the blonde haired God-General who just chose her as his exclusive target.

"Nothing!" she declared as she scooted away from her attacker as fast as Tokunaga would allow her to. It wasn't nearly fast enough, he got a hold of the arm of the large doll and pulled on it so hard that she was surprised he didn't tear it off. The young girl went flying forward landing hard onto the ground.

Anise could feel a heavy weight come down on her back. "What was that you said earlier?"

The blonde God-General got shoved away from the young girl by the former God-General, "Get off her, she doesn't know anything."

"And neither do you, traitor. What lies did you tell them?"

Jade had finished casting the arte he prepared earlier and it missed Cantabile as she darted towards Kiran. "Yes, what lies did you tell them?"

Jade signaled to Tear, he could tell Kiran and Anise would need backup. "Change your target, Tear."

Tear moved closer to Jade to get a better view of her new target, which would be Cantabile. She began singing a fonic hymn in hopes that she could get Cantabile out of the fight and they could all concentrate on her husband.

Kiran pointed his sword at Nepenthes, "I won't let you hurt them!"

Nepenthes smirked and held his sword to Kiran's throat, "They won't get hurt if you come with us, and neither will you."

A knife that came from Tear's direction hit Cantabile in the shoulder, causing her to scream in pain "That's your answer! We won't give him up to you!"

Nepenthes scowled at Kiran, "Fine, then I will start by killing your little friend here, then maybe you will realize we are serious."

Anise stood up and readied herself to defend his attack. Tokunaga was too far away from her now, but if she ran fast enough, she could get to him. "You won't get me that easily, murderer!"

"Don't be so sure about that! Void Tempest!" he yelled.

Anise didn't get away nearly fast enough and found herself hit by his attack. Tear began casting a fonic arte to heal the wound Anise had just been given, it seemed Cantabile had the same idea; they finished casting at the same time, "O healing power...First Aid!"

Anise's wound closed, but it did still pain her as she continued to try and run towards Tokunaga. At the same time, Cantabile moved towards Tear and Jade to attack them while Nepenthes concentrated solely on Anise and kept an eye on Kiran, he knew the boy tended towards more sneaky moves, Cantabile did teach him well, but only what he needed to survive as a God-General.

Anise's blonde haired attacker closed in on her quickly. Kiran recognized what he was planning from previous battles, he would always try to get his victim down and then take them out fast. At minimum, the target would end up incapacitated, but most of the time they ended up dead. He couldn't let that happen to the girl.

He ran to block the path of his former comrade. "I won't let you hurt them! Raging Blast!"

The flash of light the came towards his attacker was easily dodged. "Kiran, I thought you were better than that, seems you are as pathetic as your original."

"Luke is not pathetic!" Kiran yelled.

"Kiran, don't let him get to you." Tear admonished.

"Oh? Did I find a weakness then? Is he why you turned traitor?"

"It's none of your damn business!"

"Your reasons may not be, but bringing you back is. Either come peacefully or stop interfering!"

While the two had talked, Cantabile had moved behind Tear, catching her off guard. She had Tear grappled and a sword to her throat. "Kiran, you will come peacefully, or I kill Tear right here and now. One slice would be enough, and I won't hesitate just because she was my student, or because she is the Commandant's sister."

"Fine. I'll go with you. Let her go."

Cantabile kept her hold on Tear. "Nepenthes, restrain him so he won't escape us after we let them go."

Kiran felt a sharp jab to his shoulder, then he felt another blow to his head, before everything went black he heard, "That's for what your friend did, traitor."

The others watched on as the blonde God-General retrieved his prize. "I have him, you can let her go now, Cantabile." he told his companion as he started to walk away towards the bird monsters they had by the Tartarus.

"Tear, good hit, but don't think about pursuing us. The same goes for the rest of you." She shoved Tear to the ground and plunged the dagger into the ground next to her before she ran to catch up with her husband, who was already seated on one of the flying monsters with the unconscious Kiran.

-----

Kiran opened his eyes and found himself somewhere that was familiar and not familiar at the same time. He looked up and saw that Luke was with him, and perfectly well and awake. That more than anything else told him where he must be, he must have fallen unconscious and this was either a dream or he was in most likely Luke's mind, since he could see that it was light out.

"What happened to you Kiran? You just suddenly appeared here." Luke asked him.

He sat up from his former position which happened to be with his head laying in Luke's lap. "I admit, I am not exactly sure."

"You're hiding something from me, please, tell me."

"Two God-Generals arrived to take me back to Daath."

"And you fought them?"

"At everyone else's insistence. If it were left to me, I would have gone to prevent them from getting hurt."

"Kiran, you are always the kind one I have noticed. Did it not go well then?"

"They came very close to taking Tear's life. I gave in at that point and that is the last I can recall before finding myself here with you."

"Liar, you're still hiding something, I can tell. You would have left the connection up if you weren't hiding something from me."

"Damn it, Luke. You're too perceptive for your own good."

"What else do I have to do with myself? I can't help you and I have too much time to think about the danger you are in."

"If I could trade places with you, I would."

"I would not wish this on even my worst enemy, Kiran, it's just too awful"

"Are you sure? It would be easier on us to deal with Van if he were in your condition."

Luke smiled a bit. "It definitely would, but I'm not capable of being that cruel. Now stop changing the subject and tell me what you are hiding."

"I have to go back to service with Van, he won't let me go."

"I didn't expect he would. But you don't want to go back, right?"

"I don't want to, but if he's going to hurt people to ensure my compliance, I really don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"Is that what he did? Threatened the others?"

"He sure doesn't seem to have any problems with killing his own sister to get me to cooperate."

"I can't believe that, even of him. So he attacked you?"

"He sent his two most efficient God-Generals to do that bit of dirty work, but they had orders that they could kill or harm anyone besides me. I know you are familiar with their skills, one of them knows you in particular, since he said I'm 'as pathetic as my original.'"

"Who said that?"

"I think you know, only one of them has a personal gripe with you."

"Damn him! Now he's bringing you into an issue he has with Father."

"He's always had a problem with me. I don't mind him as much, at least he's honest with his hatred of me and has some reason behind it. His wife isn't so bad."

"Wait a second, he's married?"

"We found out that he's married to God-General Cantabile."

"That poor woman, unless she's just like him. I can't imagine being married to a murderer like him."

"She's actually a relatively decent person, but to each their own tastes. I don't have room to talk, since I helped her free him."

"We discussed that already, I don't blame you for following orders at that time. And I won't blame you now for doing what you must, unless you give up and don't even try to stop Van anymore. You'll find a way to leave again, even if I have to recover and come rescue you myself."

"I like that idea, you're welcome to come to my rescue."

"I'll do what I can, but don't expect anything too soon."

"Just do your best. I can wait for as long as it takes for you to come for me. Who knows, maybe my being here will help in some way. I may be able to find out more about Van's plans by being a part of them and maybe even stop them from within."

"He may be expecting that, be careful, please. I don't want to lose my brother just after meeting him."

"I'll be careful. Anyway, I must go." Kiran stood up and walked over to the wall that separated their minds. When he reached it, for the first time he noticed the actual surroundings, besides the fact that it was daytime. He could see small shoots of grass poking their way out of the ground, it wasn't enough to cover the ground yet, but it was a wonderful start.

Then for the first time since everything happened, Kiran smiled with real happiness.

-----

Kiran's eyes opened right as he and his escort landed in from of the cathedral in Daath. Cantabile dismounted and came to assist her companion with his burden.

"Kiran, you aren't going to get away. Are you going to come of your own free will like you said you would, or should I be tying you up to make sure you don't escape us?"

Between the loss of blood from his rather painful shoulder wound which had not yet been healed and the fact that his head hurt like crazy, even if they gave him a chance to escape, he sure couldn't take it. "I'm not going to run away."

"We should get him healed before he reports in." Cantabile suggested. "Look at him, he can barely even stand up."

"Later, we need to report in first."

"I'll be fine, Cantabile. I just need a few moments to steady myself."

They let the birds depart. Arietta had trained them well and they would go to wherever she kept them when they were not in use. They opened the large doors leading to the Cathedral's very large main hall. Once inside the heart of the large maze of rooms and hallways that made up the headquarters of the Order of Lorelei, they saw one of their comrades speaking with a low ranked knight they knew to be that particular God-General's assistant . Cantabile groaned upon seeing the two, Nepenthes, however, could not hide the smirk that came across his face upon seeing God-General Dist with his overly loyal assistant, Reiner.

Overly loyal was a nice way to describe Reiner. The silly boy did have a tendency to be only too eager to please his superior officers. The rest of the God-Generals tended to take advantage of the poor boy's eagerness to please and asked favors of him rather often. It was indeed a great source of amusement to give the young knight so much to do that it was difficult to finish his own duties, if he even did. However, this didn't upset Reiner, he loved any bit of praise he could get. Dist however, would be fuming at the others for what they did, which never seemed to stop it from happening.

"Cantor Reiner, good to see you. I wanted to thank you for the good work you did for me." the blonde haired Nepenthes told the young knight while still unable to hide his own smirk. "So, have you perhaps figured out the secret of how his chair flies?"

"Th-thank you God-General. I am glad to be of service. Unfortunately, no, I haven't figured out that secret and even if I did, I would not be permitted to tell it." The young knight beamed at the praise bestowed upon him.

"Damn you Nepenthes! Reiner is my assistant! You have no right to order him around like he's your assistant! And you won't be touching my chair!" Dist fumed.

"You're right, Dist. We don't have that right." Cantabile mentioned. "That doesn't mean we can't make a request of your assistant. Is it our fault he can't seem to refuse when he does have the right to do so? Perhaps the two of you need to have a word."

Dist hung his head at being chastised by Cantabile of all people. "You're right, I will have a talk with him."

"So, Dist, you still playing with those broken fon machines? Such a waste of Reiner's talent and dedication. Would you consider letting him transfer to Special Ops?"

Reiner beamed again at the praise he was just given and looked at Dist expectantly. "No way. I won't let you abuse him, Nepenthes."

"Then how about 5th division? Cantabile could use someone with his talent."

"I need him too much, it would take too long to train another to take his place."

"Interesting how your response changes when it's Cantabile, is there a reason why?"

Dist's face turned a bright reddish color, "No reason at all!"

"Sure there's no reason. She's too good for either of us anyhow. So, what does Reiner do for you that makes him so irreplaceable? Does he pick up your broken pieces when you break something again?"

"We are doing very important research that will benefit the entire Order of Lorelei!"

"Sure you are. Come on, Cantabile, we still need to go report in."

"Damn you Nepenthes! I hate you! I will be putting this in my revenge journal!" he shouted to the three departing God-General's backs.

Reiner cowered in fear at seeing Dist this upset. He knew what was coming to him now, Dist would rant and rave for hours about how Nepenthes succeeded again in making him look a fool. It would be even worse this time, because he always seemed to get upset when made to look a fool in front of Cantabile. That was the only thing Reiner hated about his position, he was always the one Dist ranted to. He somehow doubted any other God-General ranted and raved like Dist did.

It was definitely going to be a long day. Why it was that being made to look like a fool in front of Cantabile was something upset Dist so much did indeed escape the young oracle knight, unless...no, it couldn't be. The eccentric God-General never showed having any use for women, if anything, he seemed to be in love with Jade Curtiss. Reiner sighed as he prepared himself for the very long day and the excessive amount of ranting and yelling that would now be a part of it.

-----

Kiran was all but dragged to an office he knew belonged to Sync. It was not at all out of the ordinary for the God-Generals to report directly to him from time to time, in fact he was the first in line to be reported to if the Commandant was away, with Legretta being the next. That still didn't stop Kiran from feeling a sense of dread over what was going to happen next to him.

He knew that Sync could control him via the Curse Slot, and his recent actions in trying to leave the Oracle Knights meant that was more likely to be a measure used to ensure his compliance. That was why Kiran felt dread, he knew something was going to happen to him, if not now, then soon.

They entered the office to find Sync busy with a pile of paperwork. How he was able to read well enough to fill in those forms with that mask of his was always a question among the others, but he did get his work done, and he sure never took that mask off. It was a standing joke among the younger knights that he slept wearing it.

Sync looked up when he heard the door open, "Nepenthes, Cantabile, good work. Did he put up any resistance?"

"He did, but we handled it without a problem. Kiran did receive a minor injury to his shoulder, but nothing that can't be healed."

Sync looked at the group, he noted that both Kiran and Cantabile appeared to have received injuries, and so very similar. He suspected that something was odd here, and noted that piece of information for future use. "I see Cantabile got injured also, usually both of you are better than that."

The blonde haired God-General shrugged, "Even the best make mistakes, I am sure you are well aware of that, since you lost to them."

"Don't bring that up ever again!" Sync shouted before continuing with his instructions, "Anyway, both of you are excused until first light. You will receive your orders then. Could one of you stop by the healers and have a healer sent for Kiran to wait in his quarters? I also advise Cantabile be seen by them. Kiran, you stay here, we have some things to discuss."

The other two God-Generals departed to do as they were commanded, leaving Kiran alone with the masked God-General. "Well, Kiran, it seems the Commandant is very displeased with your recent actions."

"I expected as much. What is to be my punishment then, Chief of Staff?"

"It is a lot more lenient than what is usually given to traitors like yourself. You do know what that usually is, correct?"

"Yes, sir. Traitors are put to death."

"You are correct. Then you will understand the favor the Commandant has granted you. Consider it a reprieve, nothing more, since there is a stipulation to it."

"A stipulation, sir?"

"Yes. From this moment forward, you have been stripped of your position as God-General. You and your men are being transferred to the other divisions. You have already been transferred to 3rd Division. You will report directly to me as my own assistant."

Damn, just like Van to make it appear like he was in the clear. Death was actually preferable to this. Being in such close proximity to Sync meant he could make good use of the Curse Slot if the need arose. It would be nearly impossible to escape and if he didn't follow orders, he likely would be forced to, no matter how detestable the orders might be. "You mentioned a stipulation, what was that?"

"As I stated, this is only a reprieve. You are still under a sentence of death. If you perform well with me, this sentence will be lifted. Otherwise, it still stands and will be carried out at some point in the future. Do you understand this?"

"Yes, sir."

"You have been granted the rest of the day off. There should be a healer waiting for you by now, get your injuries healed. You are to report to me at first light for your duties. I advise turning in early, I heard a rumor of a fire drill tonight. You are dismissed."

Kiran left the office with a lot on his mind. He definitely did not like this one bit. All he could do was leave at his first opportunity, even if that meant that if or when he was found he would indeed be killed.

-----

Nepenthes walked into his wife's personal quarters. He very much hated the fact that though Van was kind enough to assign them close to each other, it was just among the many rules that they could not openly associate with each other beyond working together on missions. In the parts of the Order that didn't have as much of a strict ranking system there were families, but no matter how much they asked for a transfer or resignation, he and his wife were refused for the time being. At least now things were in motion and it was a matter of time, though it didn't make him feel much better about having to leave his son to be raised by servants and he and his wife got very little time together.

He took a sharp intake of breath upon opening the door and seeing her partially clad back. Even after the years that he had known her, which included over a year of marriage, her never failed to find her beautiful, and more so after she gave him their son. He could see her looking in a mirror at something, he assumed she was examining her shoulder, since she hated having to visit the healers unless she absolutely had to. "Would you like some help?"

"Please, it seems the worst of it is on the back, though she did aim well."

He looked closer at her shoulder, frowning at the gash in her shoulder, "You're right, though it is beginning to heal, thanks to your arte earlier. It still could stand to be cleaned up."

She handed him a damp cloth with her other hand, "Use this."

He gently cleaned her shoulder of the dried blood that was there. "It'll likely leave a scar unless you finish the healing off soon."

"I would prefer not to. It's not like I don't have enough scars already."

"Don't even say what you are thinking. You are beautiful, scars and all." He slipped off her eyepatch. "Though if the person who did this was still alive, I would kill him."

She smiled, "I am sure you would. Did you mean what you said to Dist earlier?"

"About neither of us deserving you? Every word. Dist definitely doesn't deserve you, and I don't think I do either, though I am happy to spend every day to make myself deserving of you."

"You are wonderful the way you are. I couldn't ask for a better husband and father for our son. Could you stay here with me tonight? I can't stand the idea of being alone another night."

He smiled, whenever she asked that, it meant more than sleeping would be going on. "I definitely can't refuse that. I have missed being able to wake up with you in my arms. It won't hurt your shoulder though, would it?"

"Even if you did, it's not enough for me to want to be alone. Just help me bandage it and it should be fine." She handed him some bandages also. "I can't seem to reach it well."

He secured the bandages she gave him to the wound on her shoulder, making sure it was completely covered and not likely to be loosened in her sleep, or by doing anything else, "Is that too tight?"

"No, that's just fine, thank you."

He swept up her hair and planted a kiss to the back of her neck, which caused her to close her eyes. He withdrew from kissing for a moment, "No, don't close your eyes, I want you to be able to see yourself as I see you."

"But..."

He finished removing the tunic she wore beneath the tabard she had already removed completely. "No buts, we have all night, you can have your way with me when I am done." He untied the cloth she used to secure her breasts. "For now, let me take good care of you, and make sure you didn't sustain any other injuries, then you can check me for any hidden injuries."

She smiled at his broad hint about his plans for her. She knew this was indeed going to be an interesting night.

-----

Hours passed and the entirety of the Order of Lorelei was awoken by alarms blaring. There were definitely many people upset at having their precious hours of sleep interrupted by yet another fire alarm that was likely just another drill to make sure they were ready for anything.

Cantabile awoke in the arms of her husband, both of them clad only in the sparse blankets covering them. She had expected someday something like this would happen, so she actually was somewhat prepared for it. They rarely got warning as to when these nightly drills were going to occur, since it was a policy that they should be prepared for anything at any time. She made her way out of bed and grabbed a bathrobe she kept hanging up in case someone did come barging in at some ungodly hour like this, since she usually slept in the nude anyhow. She put it on and tied the belt securely around her waist.

Nepenthes yawned not quite awake yet, since they only got to sleep maybe an hour ago at most. Then he heard the alarm soon after. He felt a bathrobe land in his lap. "We don't have time to dress, it's bad enough that someone likely will see you come out of my room."

He put it on and tied the belt securely. It was a bit short for him, since Cantabile was a good four inches shorter than him, but it covered him, and that was enough. "I'm ready."

She took one look at him and smiled. "I will have to get one that fits you better, but for now, that will have to do. Just be glad it's not pink."

He was indeed very glad it wasn't pink. He would never live that down, but his wife had good taste at least in picking out her own clothing, she had a tendency to prefer black or other dark colors, which also suited him well. At least this way, he could say it was his, but a bit old. "Let's go before someone wonders where we are."

He opened the door and walked out into the corridor first, no one else seemed to be around, though Dist's shouting could be heard even though he was not in sight. Cantabile followed and closed the door behind her. They went to the nearest exit that was the one those in this corridor were supposed to use during an emergency like this. Thankfully, most in this corridor were high ranking soldiers or God-Generals themselves who would be less likely to speak about their comrades outside of their own group.

They got outside and saw that everyone who was in Daath at this time, except Sync, was already outside. It was actually a rather interesting sight to see them all in their nightclothes. Arietta was standing there in a prim white nightgown hugging her weird looking stuffed animal close to her, looking to be in a very foul mood at being woken up. Largo appeared chipper and was clad in only boxer shorts and a white tank top. This was the only time anyone ever saw him bare any skin, and his arms and legs were nearly as covered in hair as his head and face were. It probably was for the best that his uniform showed very little. Dist was sitting in his chair as always, clad in the silliest looking purple pajamas with pink polka dots. He was hugging some sort of doll close to him, they knew from prior experience that it was a doll of his former friend, Jade the Necromancer. Kiran was out there also, it seemed he had not been assigned a new room yet, despite the fact that he lost his rank, he was only missing his jacket, when normally he would be wearing some sort of bland pajamas. Maybe Sync had given him something to do that kept him up late.

"About time the both of you made it out here! Good thing Sync isn't here yet, he's likely looking for stragglers who think they can get out of this." Largo chuckled.

"Ohhhhh! I so hate these drills! They interfere with my beauty sleep!" Dist whined.

"Shut up Dist, I am trying to get some rest." Arietta grumbled from behind the stuffed doll. Her eyes were closed, it did appear as if she were trying to sleep standing.

"You strange girl, why bother when we just are going to go in again any minute?" Dist told her.

"At least I don't look like an idiot wearing pink and purple PJs!"

Nepenthes laughed at the young girl's retort. She sure could come up with some great insults if pushed hard enough. "She's right you know, you look like a fool in those pajamas clutching that doll of yours."

"And that bathrobe of yours looks a bit too small for you, where did you get it from?" Dist asked him.

"I grabbed the wrong one when I was leaving. At least it's not a silly color that only female Fon Master Guardians would wear."

Arietta laughed at that comment. "Yeah, that's definitely something Anise would wear! If it was any smaller I would wonder if you were raiding her clothes."

"Damn both of you! This is going in my revenge journal when I get back to my room!"

"If you can even remember something for that long." Cantabile grumbled.

"I can too remember this!" Dist fumed. "I have a very good memory!"

"Then why do you need a journal to keep track of who you are getting revenge on?" Nepenthes inquired.

"Because people like you are so horrible that I would clutter my brain with how many times I need to get revenge on you. That way I can make better use of my superb brain for my ultra gorgeous artes."

"Funny, I have never seen such artes."

"That's because you aren't good enough to get to see them!"

"He can't cast a fonic arte to save his life, that's why." Cantabile commented.

"I can too use fonic artes!" Dist whined.

They heard a door open behind them and Sync joined them, he was fully clothed in his uniform and mask, as if he either dressed very quickly, or had been up all night. "All of you, stop arguing now and go back to your rooms! Nepenthes, Cantabile and Kiran, you will report to me first thing in the morning. The rest of you should have your orders already."

Grumbling, but glad it was over, Arietta went inside. Largo followed after her, then Kiran, then Dist, still upset over the insults directed at him. Nepenthes and Cantabile were about to go in when Sync said something. "Nepenthes, you might want to sleep in your own quarters rather than Cantabile's. We will speak more on this in the morning."

They didn't answer, they just went inside and did as asked. The last person they needed knowing was Sync.

-----

Natalia awoke in the middle of the night to a strange noise coming from the hallways. She wondered what it could be, the only ones who would be up at this time of night were the guards, and that wasn't a sound they would make. It couldn't be Evelina, if she awoke now, her nurse would have awoken quickly to feed her.

Well, she was wide awake now, so she decided to investigate, and while she was at it, she could see if the kitchen had anything that she could eat, she was feeling rather hungry.

She opened the door to the hallway and stepped outside, closing the door quickly behind her. Though Luke still showed no signs of waking up, she didn't wish to do anything that could disturb him. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust from the darkness of her room to the light of the hallways even at night. Once she could see clearly, she walked in the direction she had heard the sound.

She didn't have far to go before she found the source of the strange noise, it was Luke's little pet cheagle, Mieu. "Mieu, what are you doing out here?"

"Trying to find Master's room. Can you take me to him?"

"He's still not awake though, are you sure you want to see him like that?"

"I miss Master. Maybe I can help you wake him up."

"Mieu, this is more than just him sleeping. He was hurt badly and his body needs lots of rest to recover."

"He doesn't look hurt, he looks like he's sleeping. Anise found that water works well to wake him up."

She smiled, the little creature sure had a way of cheering her up about even the worst of things. She was indeed starting to worry greatly about the fact that Luke continued to remain unconscious. Even the doctors she had asked to examine him more could not give her any hope that he would ever wake up. In fact they had told her that the more time passed without him awakening, the less chance there was that he would ever awaken. It was quite possible that he would remain in this state for the rest of his life.

The only one who had given her some form of hope was Kiran. Considering his special connection to Luke, she was more likely to believe what he said. Luke seemed perfectly able to communicate with his brother, they might even be speaking to each other at this very moment. It was a shame he had to leave with the others, though she understood why. She had a feeling that if, no when, Luke recovered, he would very well take off after them, leaving her alone again to await his return and hope nothing bad happened again.

This time though, she wasn't going to let him go without a fight. If he had to leave, she would go with him. She wasn't going to let a repeat of this happen if she could help it. However, he had to recover first, which meant he had to wake up first. "Mieu, if water could wake him up, I would be happy to try it, but I doubt it will work."

"Have you tried it then, Natalia?"

"No, I haven't. It won't work." She sadly informed the tiny cheagle.

"Let's go get some water and try it!"

There was definitely no stopping the little cheagle now that it had an idea in it's head. She hated to do this to Luke, but at this point, she was willing to try anything. "Okay, Mieu. I was going down to the kitchen anyhow to get a snack, are you hungry?"

"Oooh! Maybe they have some of those yummy mushrooms! I loved those!"

"Let's go see." She bent down so the cheagle could jump onto her shoulder and walked downstairs to the kitchen. There were already a few servants awake and beginning to start cooking for breakfast. One was busy cleaning the remaining pots from last night's meal and another was busy mixing up something, she had no idea what it was, considering her normally dismal results in trying to cook. Another was gathering up ingredients to start making something when he saw Natalia, "Princess! What brings you here at this time of night? It's still hours until breakfast."

"I couldn't sleep and was feeling a bit hungry. Is there something that could tide me over until breakfast?"

"Of course. There is some bread left from last night's meal, or would you prefer some fruit?"

"Fruit would be wonderful, and do you have some mushrooms for Mieu? He's hungry as well."

"We have plenty of mushrooms."

"Yay! I love the mushrooms here!" the cheagle squealed in delight.

"Let me get you a plate for your snack, Princess. I will have it shortly." He said before walking off. Her wait was not very long before he returned with a plate that had an a sliced apple on one side and mushrooms sliced into sizes that Mieu could easily handle. There was also a glass of water for her. "Will this be enough for you Princess?"

"It is plenty. Thank you, and I look forward to your wonderful meal for the morning."

"You are too kind, Princess. Have a good night's sleep, and I hope your husband gets better soon."

"I do too. Thank you for your kind words, I am sure he would be glad to know you are thinking of his health."

"We hate not seeing him in the castle, all the servants miss him, but we are all glad he's alive. Thank Lorelei for that much at least. Anyway, you better go and get some sleep. You won't be doing him any good if your health gets poor."

"I will do that, thanks again."

She left the kitchen and handed a piece of mushroom to Mieu to keep him content for the time being until she got back to her chamber. He happily chomped on the mushroom and she kept handing him more pieces until she got back to her chamber.

Once inside, she lit a candle so she could see in the room and sat down in one of the chairs in the room that happened to be near a table so she could put the plate down. She let Mieu down onto the table so he could finish eating and took a slice of apple herself.

Mieu finished eating quickly, then looked at Natalia eagerly, "Are you going to try the water now?"

"Let me finish eating first, then I will try it."

"Okay!"

She ate the slices of apple in silence and then took a small sip of the water in the glass. So she did not upset the little cheagle, she made sure half of the glass remained full. If his suggestion worked, that should be enough, though she held little hope that it would. She stood up, holding the glass in her hand and walked over towards where Luke rested on her bed. She hesitantly held the glass above him, about to tip it over when she lost her nerve to do so.

"Come on Natalia! You have to get him wet, or he won't wake up!" Mieu excitedly said while bouncing next to her.

She didn't even realize what had happened when she felt Mieu hit her leg rather hard, causing her to almost lose her balance and spill the water all over the bed, most of it landing on Luke. She was able to keep her balance by quickly grabbing a hold of the side of the bed, but she had come so close to falling that she was not too far from Luke. "Mieu! Don't do that again! I almost fell on top of Luke."

"Mieuuuu. I'm sorry."

She was in the process of steadying herself when she saw a slight movement in Luke's arm. It wasn't much, but she knew it wasn't just her imagination. "Luke? Can you hear me?" He didn't respond, but that movement in the arm was the most she had seen from him yet since Kiran and the others brought him here.

"Is Master waking up?"

"I don't know, but I thought I saw his arm move."

"Really? Then it did work!"

"No, not quite yet."

She took a hold of his hand, lacing her fingers among his. After what she saw, she felt a need to feel the warmth of his hand upon hers, maybe that would encourage him to show some more signs of awakening.

She felt just the slightest movement of his hand on hers, it was definitely not her imagination, it felt like he was trying to hold her hand like he normally did when they sat near each other. She felt tears come to her eyes of true happiness. It may be a small thing, but to her, it was a miracle.

And as always, reviews are greatly appreciated!