A Cat's Rescue

"You're insane," That was all Creed had to say to me as I stood in front of him. "You can't go back in there, you'll die!"

"I have to, Creed," I spoke quietly as I slipped my black coat back on, my body still shaking from what Doctor had done to me. "If I don't Eve and everyone else will die."

"You'll die either way." He insisted, trying his best to convince me to stay.

"It's just something I have to do," I replied as I fastened Hades holster around my right thigh and slid the gun into place. "And I need you to understand that."

"I'm trying; Train, but so far you're not making any sense." Creed almost snapped.

"I need you to find the others while I'm in there," I straightened up and gave him a serious look. "They need you more than I will here. I have no idea where they are or what's happened to them, but I'll feel better if I know you're with them."

"Fine," Creed spoke shortly, almost pouting. "But don't expect me to stay away from here. I'll be back as soon as I can to make sure you've made it out alive."

I smiled at him as we watched one another. I owed him so much and I felt as if I were throwing it all back in his face by going back into Eden. But I had to. Like I had told Creed everyone would die if I didn't, and if we weren't hurt Eve would be. I couldn't let either situation happen.

"With Doctor out of the way things should be easier." I pointed out, my eyes flickering over to the bloody mess that was once Doctor.

"I'll see to it that the Zero Numbers end up the same way." Creed nodded.

The Zero Numbers…that was the code name Sephiria had now given them. How could Chronos have let this happen? It was as if the organization had begun to fall apart the moment Creed and I had left. Enemies had been growing and strengthening within their numbers and they hadn't had a clue. Mason had been leading the Zero Numbers and with such force that even Chronos was finding itself in trouble.

"Don't do it alone, alright?" I eyed him cautiously for any sign of defiance.

He only nodded but I knew he was telling the truth. It wouldn't make sense for Creed to take all the Zero Numbers on by himself, especially if they were fighting in large groups as they had been before. I didn't need to find Creed dead, or anyone else for that matter.

"Alright," I sighed as I eyed apprehensively the cord that lay on the floor before scooping it up and holding it in front of my face. "Here goes nothing."

With my eyes clamped shut and my body ready for the pain that was sure to come I mimicked Doctor's moves from hours ago. I shoved the tube forward and into the hollow center of my collar bone before wrenching it to the left as if to lock it in place.

Everything was blank after that. I couldn't recall collapsing to the floor as I knew I must have, and I had no idea what Creed's reaction had been. All I knew was that I could feel my body flying through a cold darkness that wasn't altogether unfamiliar to me. I had done this once before and I could do it again. I had to.

I awoke to silence, complete and utter silence. Somewhere in my mind I knew where I was and what had happened, but I still found myself confused and out of balance.

Eden was different in ways I hadn't imagined. The darkness that existed around me had lightened but ever so slightly into a hazy mist. The ground beneath me, which I was now lying on, was made up of what looked like cracked glass. Beneath its surface a silvery liquid churned as if a storm existed beneath the cold surface.

I pushed myself up onto my lower arms as I looked around, but I could barely see a thing through the murky haze that hung in the air and clung to my skin. It was cold. It hit me in that instant. It was like a day that was threatening to snow but couldn't quite find it in it.

With a push I shoved myself to my feet and looked around once again from my new height. Eve had to be here somewhere, or was this like my own personal section of Eden like before with the beach and Saya? She had to be here. She just had to.

"Train?" Her voice echoed through the darkness.

I whipped around to see her standing in front of me, her skin shining with a bright light that seemed inhuman. Her body was naked but censored by the blinding light, her face, hands, and legs the only parts of her that I could see.

She eyed me with dark, sad eyes as if she knew what had happened between Doctor and me. Her face seemed so different here, as if she had grown several years over internally but remained a child on the outside.

"Eve…" I breathed, wanting to reach out to her but knowing somehow that it wouldn't help. "We have to get you out of here, okay?"

"You can't," She shook her head adamantly. "Adam won't let you."

"Well, screw Adam!" I snapped back before I realized what I was doing. "Screw this whole place. You don't belong here, Eve."

"And neither do you." A new voice entered the conversation from behind Eve.

I squinted through the haze until his form came into focus and I recognized him at once.

"Adam…" I growled, my body immediately defensive as my hand hovered over Hades.

"You're back I see," He smirked at me as he came up behind Eve. "I thought I had chased the stray out."

"You did," I snapped back. "But I'm taking Eve with me this time."

"Oh, are you?" He chuckled as he wrapped a long arm around Eve's shoulders and pulled her back against him. "That's an interesting proposition. What will you offer me in return?"

"Nothing," I said shortly. "You don't deserve anything."

"You must remember I'm simply playing my part in this act," He replied calmly as he held Eve close. "Just as Eve is. And as you are."

"I'm not playing," I growled before I whipped Hades out of its holster and aimed carefully. "Hand her over."

"Train, don't do this." Eve spoke with such sadness it made me falter.

"I have to Princess," I winked at her before refocusing my gaze on Adam. "She's all we've got."

"Then take her," Adam spoke darkly for the first time before shoving Eve towards with. "But don't expect your journey to be an easy one. I won't let you out of Eden that easily."

I caught Eve before she fell face first into the ground, her hands cold against my skin as she clung to me. Her eyes held so much fear in them, and her body was shaking all over.

I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her tight against me, her face hiding in my shirt as I aimed at Adam again.

"What's this?" He asked, smirking again. "Still on the offense?"

"You're not going to let us go, are you?" I asked calmly.

"I won't let her go," He corrected me. "I would rather you go away altogether."

"If I go she goes." I shot back as I cocked Hades threateningly.

"Do you think your weapon frightens me?" He laughed sardonically. "You can't injure me with something a simple as that."

"I can try." I growled before firing the gun, the kickback shoving Eve and I backwards as if I had never shot a gun before.

Adam's image along with the world around us cracked in half as if it were made of the same glass the ground was. Cracks spider webbed out from the main one, splintering the scenery around us until it exploded and fell to the ground like rain.

"Eve," I looked down to see her still clinging to me, but her body was now clothed in the same strange white robe it had been before. "We have to go."

She looked up at me with her fear-filled eyes before nodding meakly.

"You can do this," I smiled down at her. "Just like all those times before."

Her nod was a little stronger this time as she pulled away from me and looked around at the darkness we now stood in.

"He isn't gone," She looked at me warily before glancing around again. "He's just been pushed a little further away. But if we run…"

"We can make it out?" I hoped I was finishing her sentence; I didn't need to hear anything dark and depressing.

"Maybe." She replied, her answer and eyes filled with doubt.

"Then let's do this." And with that I snatched up her hand and set off at a dead run.

We would make it out of here; I refused to think any other way. Even if Adam got in our way and tried to stop us we would make it out. We would see Sven and the others again. I would see Creed. I had to promise myself that. There was no other option.

As we ran the darkness around us began to ebb, giving into a white mist that floated several feet of the ground and swirled as we raced through it. Trees shot up on either side of us and soon we found ourselves running down a flat, dirt path that led into darkness.

"Maybe we should turn around, Train." Eve offered, sounding worried.

"Where would we go?" I asked as I slowed to a stop, pulling Eve to my side protectively.

We both turned at the same time towards the path we had come from, but it wasn't a path at all. Instead the trees thinned out to show the same beach I had been standing in my memories from before.

The broken ground gave way to dark, churning waters with a deep red sky that seemed to hang far too low. I glanced back at the dark path that awaited us and almost instantly a shiver ran up my spine. Something felt wrong about that way. Eve was right.

"Let's go that way." I nodded towards the beach.

"What?" Eve looked up at me with wide eyes. "That way doesn't look safe either."

"Neither way does," I replied with a small shrug. "But this way doesn't give me the creeps."

We moved quickly back the way we had come, the ominous looking beach coming closer and closer with each quick step. This place had led me out of Eden once and I was hoping it would again.

I pulled Eve behind me as the dirt path changed to soft sand that slowed our steps as if it were pulling us under. The waves crashed loudly against the wet shore, washing sharp looking objects into view before pulling them back under again.

"I don't like this place." Eve muttered as we came to a stop only feet away from where the water touched.

"I don't either, but last time I was in here I found the way out here," I replied as I glanced around half hoping to see Saya standing nearby as she had been before. "We just have to find the right place."

"You'll never find it in time." Adam's familiar voice came from behind us.

I whipped around, yanking Hades up in front of me as I held Eve against me once again.

"We're getting out whether you like it or not." I shot back, my finger pressing dangerously against Hades trigger.

"You may, yes," He nodded calmly as he folded his arms. "But she will not."

"You already said that before," I snapped as I cocked my gun. "But I didn't care then and I don't care now."

I fired Hades several times hoping for the result I had received earlier, but nothing of the sort happened. Adam's hand whipped up in front of his face as he caught the bullets between his fingertips. He jerked his hand downward at an impossible speed, sending the bullets back in our direction.

I shoved Eve to the ground before following suit, but not before I felt the searing pain of a bullet slamming into my arm. I landed hard on the sand, my hand reaching up and gripping my upper arm where the bullet had gone in.

"Train!" Eve cried, coming to my side quickly and staring at my new wound.

"I'm fine," I replied through gritted teeth as I righted myself. "It's okay, Eve."

I raised my injured arm, Hades coming into my view as I aimed at his heart. He had to have a weakness, even if he could become a human gun.

"Didn't you learn?" He scoffed before becoming serious. "You can't defeat me, especially not with a toy such as that."

"You have to have a weakness." I snarled back, the pain from my arm shooting up into my shoulder.

"As do you." He smirked back, his eyes wandering to the blood that was beginning to soak through my black coat.

"Then come find it." I growled back before shoving myself to my feet and firing my weapon.

Adam ducked skillfully out of the way before running at me, his strange harp held out in front of him like some sort of weapon.

He reached up with his free hand and ran his fingers across the golden strings, letting loose a terrible sound. Eve fell back to her knees, her hands clamped over her ears as I tried my best to block it out.

I spun out of the way as Adam flew at me, swiping the air with his harp that I now realized was quite sharp along the bottom. I ducked again as he came at me, lashing out at me angrily with his strange weapon.

I wrenched Hades up just in time to block a point blank blow from the harp, the metal grinding horribly as we fought against one another. The sound he had made earlier had long since faded, but not for long.

Adam flung his fingers across the strings again, the noise slamming into my ear drums as such a close distance. I faltered as my ears rattled painfully, Hades slipping against the harp.

He used that moment to attack once more. He pulled the harp away before slamming it back down on me, the sharp base sinking deep into my shoulder and chest. I winced and tried my best not to make any sound, but it was hard to do with all the pain that was now pumping through my system.

"Why don't you just give up?" Adam smirked as he leapt away from me, landing softly on the sand several feet away.

I clenched my shoulder, trying my best to stem the flow of blood that I could feel draining down my skin. I looked at him with what I knew had to be pain-filled eyes, incapable of hiding it.

"I'm not going to let you hurt any more innocent people," I growled back, wincing again as the pain increased with breathing. "I'm not giving up until you or your monster is dead."

"You cannot kill me," He laughed sardonically. "I am merely a part of this world, a world which is created only by your imagination."

I had nothing to say to this, in fact I found myself completely confused. I stood in silence as I tried to breathe without causing any further pain, but I was beginning to find both impossible.

Eve stepped beside me in that moment of silence; her body filled with what I knew was anger. She could fight, we both knew that, and she had chosen now to enter the battle.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else either," She said in a flat tone. "You have to die."

"You just don't learn, do you?" Adam laughed full heartedly. "It's impossible to kill something that is merely a figment of your imagination."

"If you're a figment of my imagination," Eve growled as she stepped passed me. "Then it will be easy to destroy you."

With a blast of energy and wind Eve's form began to change into the shape it had been the night I had first seen what she could do. Her hair became wiry and strong as the ends turned razor sharp. Her body glowed with a red aura as her nails sharpened into claws and her eyes turned a deeper red than before.

"Eve-" I jerked forward, trying to find a way to stop her.

"It's okay, Train," She smiled over her shoulder at me with calm eyes. "It'll all be over soon."

With that she shoved me backwards with one of her dangerous hands, sending me falling backwards into the sand.

I watched helplessly as she lunged forward, her animal instincts taking over as she let out a strangled growl. Adam stepped backwards with a look of surprise across his face. He had obviously never been warned about Eve's true potential.

The battle ended in a matter of minutes. Eve's hands and hair whipped through the air, lashing out every chance she got until blood was running down Adam's porcelain skin.

He fought back as much as he could, wrenching his deadly harp this way and that but always missing as Eve dodged skillfully out of the way. She slashed bloody lines across his face with her claws, ripped the skin on his back apart with her bladed hair, and broke his arm with a simple movement that seemed to cause her no strength at all.

At last Adam ran at her, using the same tactics he had before on me. He leapt into the air, his harp held high as he intended to bring it down on the top of Eve's head, but before he could get any closer one of Eve's razor sharp groups of hair shot out and slammed into his chest.

It was like watching history relive itself. She had used the same attack on Adam as she accidentally had three years ago on Sven. But this time it worked.

Adam's body went limp against Eve's deadliest weapon. His arms fell downward as he dropped his harp to the bloody sand below and in an instant he died right before our eyes.

A gust of wind rushed across the beach, throwing waves into the air and rushing past us in a matter of seconds. I watched in disbelief as Adam's body began to disintegrate and float away in a silver mist, as if he had never been human at all.

As the last of the silvery mist floated away I watched as Eve's body regained control and fell back to her normal form. Her hair softened and fell gently against her back as he nails shortened and her body seemed to lose all the tension it had gathered.

With a soft sigh she fell to her knees, her strength seeming to have vanished. I shoved myself to my feet and ran to her side, catching her in my arms before she fell face first into the bloody sand.

"Eve?" I asked as I pulled her away to get a look at her face. "Eve? Are you alright?"

Her eyes flitted open, revealing her soft, light red eyes as she looked at me and smiled.

"I'm okay," She nodded before her eyes fell to my bleeding shoulder and she grew serious. "But you're not."

"I'll be okay," I tried to shrug but the pain wouldn't allow it. "We have to focus on getting out of here first."

"I think I know how." She said quietly before looking off towards the waves behind us.

I followed her gaze slowly, my eyes wandering along the beach before I saw her.

"Saya." I whispered as I saw her standing there once more.

Her long, pink kimono floated in the wind in a way that made her look ethereal, and her dark hair swayed around her smiling face. She beckoned us towards her with the motion of her hand before turning to gaze at the ocean waves.

Eve and I both stood, helping each other as we did, before turning to cross the space between us and Saya.

She smiled wider as we came closer, her eyes barely noticing my injuries or Eve's exhausted state. She only smiled, like she always had before.

"You came back, Train-kun," She smiled warmly as she reached out and took my hand in hers. "For your friend?"

I nodded, trying my best to keep my emotions intact.

"You really have changed," She squeezed my hand before looking to Eve. "He's lucky to have someone like you."

I glanced down at Eve before turning back to Saya, my mind willing me to take in every detail about her that I had begun to forget. She was unforgettable, but time stole the memories you never wanted to fade.

"I'll lead you out of here again, Train-kun," She laughed lightly. "But promise me you won't come back this time?"

"I promise." I whispered, unable to find my voice through the painful lump in my throat.

She reached out into what seemed to be empty space before running her finger down in a straight line, bright white light following behind her finger. With a single movement of her hand the line widened until it was large enough for both Eve and I to walk through.

"I can't take you any further than this," She smiled. "But at least I could open the door for you."

Eve smiled and thanked her before stepping into the light, her shape disappearing as she walked through the doorway and to the other side.

"Come with me, Saya." I begged, my voice spilling out of me.

"You know I can't, Train-kun," She smiled sadly before taking my other hand as well. "No matter how much we both wish I could."

"I miss you." I stated matter-of-factly.

"I miss you too." She nodded, her eyes growing sad as she stared at one another.

We studied one another for what felt like hours, our eyes memorizing every feature about the other until there was nothing left to look at. This would be the last time we would ever feel or talk to one another, and somehow it seemed harder than the first time we had said goodbye.

I found myself leaning forward in a moment of sudden silence, the waves becoming still as the wind fell calm around us. She leaned forward as well, taking a step towards me until we were pressed against one another, exchanging the warmth from our bodies.

It was a moment I wouldn't have traded for just about anything in the world. Our lips met for the first and last time, a moment I had dreamt about since the day she had left me. I ran my hand up into her hair and hers ran up my back, our minds urging us to never let go.

I felt her push me forward, forcing me to take a step back, and then another. And then it ended… I felt her hands press gently against my chest where my racing heart was beating, and in an instant I was stumbling backwards into the light.

"You'll be alright, Train-kun," She smiled as the light began to envelope her shape. "Because you have someone who loves you."

"Saya!" I cried as I tried my best to reach out through the light and grab her, but all I could do was fall into the endless space that lay behind me.

She was gone. Just like before.

"Train?" I heard a voice hammering at my brain as I swam in familiar darkness. "Train, wake up!"

I felt someone shake my shoulder and pain shot through my every nerve. I jerked away, my eyes opening to the dark lab I felt I had just left. Creed hovered over me, his dark eyes filled with more than just fear.

"Creed?" I whispered as my eyes tried to focus on him.

"I came back for you, Train," He smiled weakly. "Like I promised I would."

"Thanks," I smiled back before wincing at the pain it caused.

My hand wandered up my arm and to my shoulder, cold blood greeting my hand as I pressed it against my coat. But the injuries were gone. I looked down at my arm where the deep gash and bullet wound should have been but there was nothing left but the ripped fabric of my shirt.

I glanced over to see Creed holding my black coat, my blood smeared across the pale skin of his hands.

"What happened?" He asked, obviously referring to the blood and the ebbing pain.

"I was injured in there," I muttered in confusion as I sat up and lifted my sleeve to look at my skin. "But now…there's nothing there."

"What happens in Eden is only a figment of your imagination." I looked up to see Eve kneeling by my feet, her face calm as usual.

"But that doesn't explain the blood." I said as I wiped it away from my skin.

"No, it doesn't." Was all Eve had to say before she stood to face the door. "We need to go."

"Right," I rubbed my head before letting Creed help me stand.

I shrugged my short coat on before retrieving Hades from the floor where I had evidently dropped it.

"Where are the others?" I asked, looking to Creed.

"The ones who survived are throughout Eden fighting the Zero Numbers," He replied casually. "I was able to take a few of them out, but they were hidden at the time."

I look from him to Eve before trying my best to think. The Zero Numbers were missing a few now, just as we were it seemed. I didn't want to imagine who had fallen while fighting. Sven had to be alive. He had to be…Creed would have told me if he weren't, right?

"Are you ready?" I asked, looking from Eve to Creed.

Eve simply nodded as she readjusted her dress that she had obviously put on while I was out.

"I'm ready," Creed said quietly before taking my hand and squeezing it. "But only if you're by my side."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Hey guys! Sorry I was slower on the whole updating thing…I know I promised to be faster but I just wasn't inspired to write anything. I've been watching the anime "Bleach" recently because my friend is totally into it and it seemed to give me some inspiration for writing fight scenes.

I hope this chapter was interesting enough. I know there wasn't a lot of Creed in it but there will be in the next chapters (until the end basically). There are a few surprises awaiting you, in fact there could be some awaiting me…scary… Sven will come back along with the Chronos Numbers and Eve will be in the rest of the story.

The next chapters will be filled with lots of fighting and of course some dramatic talking…oooooh…haha X3 The ending should be a shock, I hope, but hopefully you won't kill me for it when you read my next story. There aren't too many chapters left, and this time I mean it. Maybe three left, or four. Then it's off to the sequel. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was interesting to write!

Ciao!

Train X3