Author's Notes: I love how Yuri doesn't mince words, especially when he's talking to Flynn. By the way, I loved writing all of Yuri's nightmares. You may notice some reoccurring symbols that Yuri hasn't put together just yet.

Chapter 26 - Shadows

The sword that once felt so natural, so perfect in his hands felt heavy and awkward. The Second Star was by no means a poorly crafted weapon. It was superbly constructed, perfectly balanced, and sharp and never felt anything less than at home in Yuri's hand. It was the sword that Estelle had given him after he saved her from being taken over by her powers that were raging out of control at Alexei's hands, and it was his sword of choice.

"How does it feel to be holding a sword again?"

"Pretty good, boss." He swung it around a few times, as if trying to get a feel for it again. Even his first time using a sword didn't feel as unnatural as this did. He hoped that it was just his body's memory a little fuzzy from his time out of commission. He wanted to fix that soon.

"That's great! Judith and I set up some practice dummies for you to fight."

There was a small obstacle course of them scattered about the field. They were basic wood, but well crafted for practice dummies, each with a different face. They were the faces of enemies he had fought in the past: bandits, knights, Red-Eye assassins, etc.

"Ready... Set... Go!"

He sprinted toward the first of the dummies. He dipped and slashed upward, across its barrel chest, knocking it straight to the ground. He slowed his pace to catch his breath before going after the next one. Even this was a lot of exertion for him. Running had been one thing, but fighting was different. It required the use of all of his muscles, and it required him to think. Maybe these enemies were fake, but he had to act and react as if they were living. With each swing and each dummy downed, he felt a little better, a little stronger, and a little more confident.

By the time he downed a dozen of them, he was panting. His heart hadn't seized up yet, but it was working very hard to keep up. That seemed like a good sign.

"Now that you're done with the dummies, we've got a surprise."

Yuri looked past Judy, where Adecor and Boccos were waiting, weapons in hand. Oh, this was going to be good. He was ready to pay them back for chasing him through the city.

"Are you up for a real fight, Yuri Lowell?"

"I say, prepare to do battle!"

Of course he was ready for a real fight. Practice dummies didn't give him nearly enough of a challenge. Glorious sarcasm poured forth from his lips. "You said that I was done with the dummies, but I see that I've got two more behind you to take care of."

"I say, that is terribly rude!"

"You say that after all the help we've given you?!"

He knew that would be enough to get them riled up.

They charged.

Normally these two wouldn't be worth the effort, but he could use this battle to gauge his training results. If after only two weeks of training, they were little threat to him, then he was progressing well. If they provided him more than simple amusement, then he would have to keep pushing himself.

Yuri took a step back, drawing his sword up. First Adecor, since he had the reach that Boccos lacked even with his spear. The longer legs allowed the tall knight to move more swiftly, although he wasn't very adept at taking advantage of this. He parried, and while Adecor was stuck, he punched him in the stomach. It wasn't enough to do much more than knock the wind out of him, but it allowed Yuri to draw back a little and prepare for the next assault.

Boccos came at him next, spear at the ready but Yuri was able to easily leap over the low placed pole arm, hitting the miniature knight in the head in the process.

This continued for a while. He wasn't sure how long they fought, but it provided him enough of a challenge that he was left gasping for breath afterward. He was victorious, however. He prodded the two knights who lay battered and bruised on the ground with one foot.

"Good job, Tweedle A and Tweedle B."

"I say, what is a Tweedle anyway?!"

That field rolled out before him once more and he prepared himself for the worst. It was that same dream again, and as much as he fought to wake up, he was paralyzed. He didn't want to witness himself crawling out of the husk of Alexei and see Flynn's blue eyes and blood splattered hands. That dream still terrified him. But this was different.

It was not dusk this time, but instead the darkness of night, hanging over the field like a black-blue curtain. The white moon was high in the night sky, illuminating the world around him. The craggy mountains shone white from the moon, and Flynn was standing there once more. He knew where this was going. He feared where this was going.

Yuri tried to speak, tried to scream, anything, but nothing came out of his mouth. He looked down at his hands. They were his own, one gloved, the other with the golden, but empty, blastia bracelet on his wrist. That was a little reassuring.

His shadow stretched across the grass, but he knew that it wasn't his. Broad shoulders, perfect posture, shoulder length hair. In the dark face of that shadow were two glowing red eyes. He tried to take a step back, but the shadow pulled away first, oozing out of the ground like black slime. It wrapped tentacles around his legs, burning hot and slick, crawling up as he tried to fight back against it. He pulled at them, struggling in a panic to get them off, but they slithered further up to his waist, sliding slimy across his chest, pinning his arms against his body. He wiggled to get away, but it snapped him straight up, looking at the moon, as it crept up his neck and across his face, and slid hot and wriggling down his throat. It consumed him completely.

He was Alexei once more, and once more, Flynn was standing right it front of him, anger flashing in his eyes, one hand on his sword. Yuri didn't have control anymore. He couldn't stop the body that was already moving on its own. His broad sword was in his hand, pulled back, prepared to strike. Flynn rushed him, but he was faster, the arms that were not his filled with many more years of experience.

The sword slid through Flynn's armor and flesh easily, leaving him gaping, bleeding, eyes wide in shock. This horror was different than was previously in those eyes. The blood splashed against Alexei's face as he pulled the sword back out of the wound, and tossed it to the side, it's purpose served.

The blond dropped to his knees, gripping the hole in his abdomen, struggling and failing to stay alive. After only seconds, the lights faded from his eyes and he fell face down into the moonlit grass.

Yuri managed to pull himself out of the shadow that was Alexei, and was himself once more. He fell down, scrambling to Flynn. He stretched and fought off the tendrils still clinging to him, trying to drag him back into the shadow. He drug himself through the grass, reaching for Flynn's hand.

As soon as the metal gauntlet Flynn wore was beneath his fingers, Flynn was gone, and in his place, a pile of apples. Yuri threw them aside handfuls at a time, but each one that he touched turned sickly green and then black in his hands, rotting away. He dug through the pile, fighting to find Flynn at the bottom. He had to save him.

At very bottom, there was no Flynn, only a single, black, oozing apple. He reached for it, his hands shaking. It gave way under his touch, and then the slime pulled back. It was a blade, aimed straight for his heart. Before he could react, it lunged for the blastia in his chest and he was enveloped in shadow once more.

When he sat up it was dark. He wasn't sure when he had gone to sleep or what time it was now, but he didn't care. He just didn't want to sleep again. He let out a weary, slightly relieved sigh. He wanted to get out of bed, lest he end up asleep again. He didn't care if Estelle came in at this point and chastised him. He turned and set his feet on the floor, and his eyes caught another pair there in the dark.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"F-Flynn!" He sounded more surprised than he had intended.

The blond was sitting at his tiny desk, with only a tiny candle for light. He had a knife in one hand, cutting an apple into quarters.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. You just startled me." Yuri tried to calm his breathing and his pounding mechanical heart. He wasn't worried about Flynn suddenly. He wasn't scared of that horrible dream coming true. He wasn't afraid of anything.

Flynn held one of the pieces of the apple out to him. "Here."

Yuri hesitated. His hand unwittingly reached out to grab it, but he flinched, drawing his fingers back against his palm. He wanted it. He wanted to touch it and see if it really did rot in his hand. He fingers brushed up against it, but nothing happened. He took it carefully from Flynn and held it in his hand, looking at it for a moment.

It seemed normal. Its skin was slick, blood red, and its flesh firm and white. It didn't turn black and rot away in his hand. He brought it to his lips and took a tentative bite. It didn't taste any different. It was cool and crisp and sweet. It made his mouth water slightly, relieving the dryness that it felt after the nightmare.

It was a moment before he noticed that Flynn was staring at him with a strange mix of confusion and worry. "Yuri, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He was still shaken, but his voice didn't betray that. He had been able to take better control of himself since starting his retraining, but Flynn still didn't know about that. And he'd rather they kept it that way. He finished off the apple. It settled his churning stomach a little. His stomach made a hungry warble at him. He must have slept through dinner. At least he was eating again, and holding it down.

Flynn chuckled, and handed him another quarter of the apple. "I'll go get you something a little more filling." He slipped out of the room.

He looked at that other piece of apple. Why was this unassuming fruit so common in his dreams, more so than almost anything else? The only thing that appeared with the same frequency was Flynn.

A few moments later, Flynn returned with a sandwich.

"How are things up at the palace?" He didn't want to think about those dreams. Any topic would do.

The blond groaned.

"That good, huh?"

"I don't understand what the Council is thinking. I try to make a move, any move, and there they are with some reason why I shouldn't or I can't. All this business with Alexei's followers... I can't do anything because they won't let me."

"So they're cockblocking you?"

"Yes." Flynn looked down at the floor in a sort of defeated frustration.

Yuri took a big bite of the sandwich, chewing and swallowing while he thought. "Flynn, you're the fucking Commandant. You know most of what's going on. Get them the evidence and then they will be forced to act."

He nodded a little.

"I'm not telling you to abuse your power, but just handle things without them until you can prove to them what's going on. Do what you need to do for the Empire." Being Flynn, though, he knew that he would continue to take the path of policy and rules, even though he now had the power to make rules and change policies. Yuri was counting on that. If the Commandant took nothing else from this conversation, he hoped that it at least gave him a little boost of confidence. "But that's not the only problem, is it?"

"I can't go into a lot of detail, since I'm still waiting on the report, but the colony of Vonael was destroyed."

That surprised him, but he continued to eat. "Well, two mysterious murders and then the whole colony gone, that's more than a little suspicious. Do you think that all this is connected?"

"I can't come to an informed decision, but I fear so. LeBlanc should be returning any day now, and I've sent another brigade out to investigate further. I'm hoping that LeBlanc can fill me in on some of the details."

Then this mechanical heart and these horrifying dreams could all be connected, too. He shivered a bit, thinking of his most recent nightmare. Would they get worse from here?

Looking at Flynn and thinking of what happened only made it worse, and he felt nauseous suddenly. He set down the half of the sandwich in his hand and leaned back in the bed. He didn't want to think about those dreams, but he couldn't stop. What if they weren't merely nightmares, but instead premonitions?