Here is the next chapter. I don't think I'll be writing to many after this. I have other stories that are shorter an I am planning to finnished them first.
You know who own's what by now.....
When my eyes opened the next day I felt instantly better. Well, at least, I didn't feel sick anymore. But, everything inside was still aching for Regal. I pulled my arms closer to my chest, trying to calm the need to cling onto Regal. Seeing him everyday, without being able to love him the way I want to, it was just too painful for anyone to endure. I pushed myself up from the thick bed sheets and crawled out of bed. Was it wrong for me to want Regal to love me? Was it wrong that I even loved Regal to begin with? Finding the answers to these questions would be fruitless labor. A sound echoed throughout the room, reminding me of my only other true love; the sound of my stomach growling telling me that it needed to be fed. I was still in the 'recovery clothing' that Mewtwo had given me so I didn't have to get dressed, so I just walked out the door. But I found that walking was much harder than I expected and was soon using the wall for support. My legs were very shaky and I soon regretted trying to walk down the hall by myself. And Mewtwo was out working on the safe house today...
"Stacy?" My heart fell when I didn't recognize the voice as Regal's. Instead it was Lloyd's. I turn my head to look back at the swordsmen. "Are...you alright?" His voice was rather uncertain on whether or not he should help me.
"Lloyd, help." I said, wearing a sheepish grin. "I don't think I can walk."
"Uh, sure." Lloyd came up behind me and maneuvered under my right arm while placing his left hand under my other arm.
"Thanks." I said when he started to bear my weight for me.
"Wow, you're really light."
"Well I was starved for a week and I have yet to hit the 100 pound mark as far as weight goes."
"You're under a hundred pounds?!"
"Yep. Thin as a stick."
"Wow, how do you get so skinny?"
"Genetics."
"Huh?"
"You'll understand someday. Maybe."
"Huh?"
"Just ignore me." Lloyd took me down the stairs as soon we had made it to the Dining Hall where Regal, Colette and Presea were sitting.
"Stacy, what happened?" Colette asked as she stood up.
"I'm fine." I said as I slipped my arm off of Lloyd. "I'm just a little weak-kneed today." Regal got up from his chair, stood in front of me and squeezed my shoulder.
"You should be resting. If you're feeling that tired then you should take it easy for awhile." I could feel my emotions for Regal course through my body. But this time, I wasn't going to just take what he had to say. I....
"If all I do is sleep all day, then the muscles in my body won't recover. I'll just keep getting weaker, until..." I didn't want to end the sentence. I didn't want to think about how pathetically weak I was, or how much weaker I could get. "...I...I want become stronger. I'm tired of being weak. You understand that, right?" I looked Regal strait in the eye, nothing but seriousness could be seen down to my core.
"Alright. As long as you're feeling well enough. Just, don't over do it." Regal said as he ruffled my hair. And we're back to him treating me like a child. I thought that ended after Yuan almost killed me.
So with Regal having said that I sat down to eat breakfast when,
"Hey, sewer rat." Miles said as he walked past me to take the free chair beside Lloyd's.
"Why do you call me that?" I asked, irritated.
"Because you crawl around in the sewers. That's why?"
"And what evidence do you have of that?"
"The fact that you knew your way around the sewers when we where escaping." He said with taunting smile on his face.
"So Miles," Sheena spoke up. "Where should we arrange for you to meet your brother?"
"Brother?" I asked.
"Preferably somewhere the Royal Family won't find us." Miles answered Sheena's question, while everyone ignored mine.
"Hello?" I said, trying for attention.
"Maybe we should take him to Ozette," Lloyd suggested. "Like we did for Kate."
"I could say what ever I want and not get in trouble."
"But Ozette is still in ruin." Presea argued. "And there are lots of people around to help with the reconstruction. I don't think Miles and Theodor could meet properly there."
"I could say that Zelos and I were getting hitched and no one would care."
"Well, how about Altamira?" Colette offered.
"That also might not work." Regal provided his two cents. "The King is likely to suspect that Stacy would come here after escaping so this might be the first place he looks."
"I'm going to go bungee jumping off the roof of the hotel. Somebody stop me."
"I'd like to offer up Mizuho for this, but bringing Miles and Theodor there might draw attention to it." Sheena said.
"I'm going to get a tattoo, shave my head, take up cannibalism and assassinate the King." (As you can see, I am have a lot of fun with this.)
"Well, what about that city in the sky. What's it called?" Lloyd asked.
"You mean Exire?" Sheena said.
"Yeah, that one."
"Maybe. But we would need to drive both Miles Theo there." Regal reasoned.
"Yeah, but that King won't be able to follow us." Lloyd countered.
"I suppose it's the best idea we've come up with."
"I could admit my unyielding love for Regal and he wouldn't be any the wiser."
"What was that Stacy?" Regal said, finally giving me attention.
"What? I didn't say anything."
"Really?" Regal skeptically.
"Really. You must be working too much." I quickly polished my plate and dashed outside to avoid further questioning.
It was late in afternoon and Regal had gone outside to see what Stacy was up too. The only time he had seen her after breakfast was when she came in for lunch. Regal walked off the patio and saw Loy and Colette off in the distance playing with something. As he approached them, he saw that it was a young, white kitten that they were amusing themselves with.
"What is this cat doing here?" Regal asked the girls while Loy was holding the kitten's arms over its head, forcing it to do some peculiar dance.
"This isn't just some cat. It's Stacy!" Loy exclaimed.
"I'm sorry. Could you run that by me one more time?"
"Stacy was practicing her transformation artes and she turned herself into a cat! And now she's stuck."
"Then shouldn't you help her?" Loy stared up at the man for a minute before giving her answer.
"No." Regal was far from impressed by her answer.
"Well we can't leave her like this."
"Sure we can! All we have to do is wait until a full moon!"
"Why?" Colette asked.
"Well she's practically part werewolf. She's bound to turn into something."
"Kitty?" A small voice said from behind Regal. Presea had followed Regal outside to see what was going on. The mature kid got to her knees and started to poke Stacy in the paw.
"Poke. Poke. Poke." As Presea attempted her third poke, the kitten's paws came up and grabbed the girl's hand. Stacy cocked her head to the side, and the opened her mouth and began to gently bite Presea's hand. The Dream traveler didn't even flinch. But someone else was moving. Regal was making an attempt to pick Stacy up. She quickly abandoned Presea's hand and bounced over to Colette, only to be scooped up by Regal's large hands at the last second.
I started into Regal's blue eyes. I had never been able to look into them so deeply before. I was, originally, expecting to see the darkness that always seemed to cloud him, only to see warmth. Regal Bryant....was a peculiar person. He may not have realized it yet, but maybe there was hope for his soul after all. Maybe he wasn't doomed to be condemned to Hell like he thought. I hope you realize that you don't have to wait for your own death Regal; that there is still a chance for you to be happy in life.
At that moment, I felt the undying urge to reach out and paw at Regal.
"Paw pad." Presea said. This triggered a forgotten memory of one of the Game's Z-skits. Regal was the Paw Dandy. This was enough motivation for me to squirm free and jump to the ground, which I was roughly suspended six feet above. Once I touched down I bounded over to Colette, who was still sitting on the soft soil, covered in thick grass, and climbed up her sleeve.
"What is it Stacy?"
"Meow." I mewed, not really able to speak like a human. Now I was aware that most people would not go near Colette if they were in the body of an animal. But in this situation, Colette was my best choice. Regal and Presea would go all 'poke mania' on me and Loy would treat me the way InuYasha treats Kagome's cat. At least with Colette the most I had to worry about was being cuddled to death; which wasn't really likely because Colette was so gentle with any animal she had. Colette picked me up off her shoulder and cradled me in her arms, which actually felt pretty good.
"Aroooo!" I heard a howl come from deep within the forest. It sounded like Shade. I really hoped he was alright. No. A wolf wouldn't call out like that if everything was alright. As much of a jerk as he was, he needed help from the sounds of it. So, putting my personal safety last, I scrambled out of Colette's arms and dashed into the dark forest.
Following the sound of the wolf's howl, going deeper and deeper into the woods. I was running frantically, trying to find my distressed friend. I had almost missed Shade when I saw a large black tail thump against the ground. Sliding on the ground, I pushed myself in the right direction. There, hidden behind tall trees and thick bushed was Shade, lying on the ground with a slash from a bear's claws on his side.
"Shade! What happened?"
"What do you think happened you mutt? I was attacked!" The black wolf growled. I felt really sorry for him. He was bleeding out in front of me, and for as long as I was in this body, I couldn't do anything. Again, I tried to will my body back into the form of a human, but still no avail. I was stuck.
"I'm sorry Shade." I mewed quietly. "I won't be able to help you."
"Look out!" Shade sprang to his feet and picked me up by the scruff of my neck and ran.
"W-what's going on?" But Shade didn't answer he just kept running, despite his injuries. After awhile Shade stopped at a small clearing and set me down.
"What was that all about?!" I demanded.
"A monster was right behind you! How could you not notice it?!" He shouted back.
"A...monster..." Had Shade....saved me? I thought back to what Twiler had once said. 'He's only that mean to the wolves he likes. You're just special. You know, eh?' The white fur on my face hid the crimson color that was spreading across it. Did Shade...really like me? I light rain began to drizzle through the tree tops, making the soil soft and muddy. Shade picked me up again and placed me on top of a large flat rock nearby. He then laid down with his paws on either side of me as to cut me off from the rest of the world.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Sarcasm ran through his voice. "I thought cats didn't like the rain. But if you want to get wet."
"No, no, no. I'm fine here. Don't trouble yourself." I was starting to kind of like Shade. Sure he was a jerk, but he wasn't all bad. Right? After awhile of listening to the rain patter against the ground, combined with the warmth that Shade was providing, I soon fell gently asleep.
The sun was setting and Stacy had yet to come out of the forest. What in the world could she be doing out there? Regal thought to himself. It just isn't like her to run off like this. Regal reconsidered the thought and realized that it was just like her to run off. She could cause him a lot of worry someday. But she was still a good kid. She was probably just bored. But if she didn't come back soon....If she didn't start eating proper meals again soon she could end up much worse than she was yesterday. Regal had already been out looking for her once, but if she was still in the body of a cat, she would have been rather hard to find. When she gets back she is going to be in big trouble.
The next time my eyes opened, the light of a setting sun was filtering through the tree, turning the forest an amber color. I wriggled free from Shade and jumped down off the rock. From the looks of things the sun wasn't going to be out much longer. Soon night would fall and I would have to wonder through the forest to find my way back to Regal's house. I noticed that I still wasn't thinking of that place as home yet. Maybe because I knew in my heart that it wasn't my home. At least, it didn't feel like home to me. But someday, I was going to find a place to call home in this world. I thought about the dream I had when I was bitten by the snake. Most of it had faded with time, but one thing always stuck out. It was the small shack that I had stayed in when Sheena took me to Mizuho. In the dream, it had felt like sanctuary. That is what I had needed. My own sanctuary. I watched as the sun slipped behind the horizon. At the sky darkened, I could feel electricity pulsing through my body. As every second ticked by it became more and more painful. This was the sensation that I had always gone through when Alto was first trying to posses me. But this time Alicia didn't appear. I was on my own. After an agonizing two minutes, two minutes that had crept by at the speed of two hours, I collapsed onto the ground, sliding my hands under the mud that had formed to try and keep the rest of my body from hitting the wet earth. I could see faint details of my face in a puddle. Cold wolf-like eyes, sharp fangs, and two wolf ears perched on top of a head of clear white hair. I started at my reflection, taking in the image, realizing that this is what people saw when they see me. Slowly I pushed myself to my now wolf like feet and my tail swished about. I looked down at my hands. The bandages that I had put on had ripped off from the transformation, along with the ones on my feet. I looked up at the sky as little specs of light started to appear, as if someone was punching holes in it with a giant pencil. I looked back at Shade. There still was that huge gash on the side of his body. I couldn't leave him in that condition.
"Ninja arte, Moonlight." I gathered healing energy as I walked over to him and placed my hand on his side. His torso shuddered at my touch, but I didn't pull away until new, regenerated skin closed over the wound.
"Thank you Shade." I said quietly into his sleeping ear and, without second thought, I leaned down and kissed the side of his black muzzle before I ran off into the forest. I continued to look to the east with vain hopes that the moon would surface soon. But after awhile, I soon understood why the moon wouldn't come out. It was the night of a new moon. My legs were tried and I could force myself to run anymore. So I leaned against a tree to recover some of my energy. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. I stood like this for barely ten seconds when I felt something pulling away from me. It was as if it was trying to untie it's self from my body. I opened my eyes and there before me was an old white wolf with onyx eyes.
"Alto. What are you doing out here?"
"It's a new moon. I can go outside without losing energy."
"Oh yeah. You mentioned that before. But the last time there was a new moon you didn't come out. Why is that?"
"You were in the heat of battle, and your body was using my energy to remain in a demonic form, along with the energies of others. I didn't have the strength to go outside."
"So why am I like this now?"
"From pacting with me you are now affected by the new moon. This is what you will turn into every night like tonight."
"I see. Alto. I have some questions."
"Like what?"
"You said you were banned from the light side of the moon, but there is no record of that ever happening. So, what else have you been lying to me about?"
"Well for starters I didn't give you the appearance you have in this world. You gained it simply by coming here."
"Oh I see now. You just let me believe it was you so that you could gain my trust."
"Yes. I was lying to you to gain your trust."
"So you don't really want to be the ruler, you want something else. Right?"
".............."
"Alto." I said sternly.
"This is the first chance I've had to get outside of your body in a long time. Could I please enjoy it?"
"Alto..." But he didn't want to hear it. Alto took off down a path, but I didn't want to be alone in the forest, so I followed him. Before I knew it, I was outside the forest, starring at the lights of the Bryant Estate off in the distance. It looked like it was going to be a long time before Alto came forward with the truth. But then again, in the end, the truth always has a way of coming out and making its self known.
Exhausted, I made my way back to the large building, where I was sure that food and warmth would be.
Alto, please tell me what happened. I want to know.
There's the end of that chapter. Also I have a poll up. Please go check it out.