Chapter LIII: No More Mistakes

The glass containers were carefully lined up, in all shapes and sizes, full of different coloured liquids. The young man examined each one carefully, using his uncle's absence as an opportunity to take a closer look at things he was normally forbidden to touch.

What his uncle was planning and working on, he had little idea. All he knew was that everyday he would send him out to fetch some items from the market stools, strange and rare plant herbs and other ingredients.

He had collected the latest order and had returned to find the back wooden door of the stone hut open. The alchemy store his uncle owned was by no means unpopular. His uncle was a skilled man; it was his somewhat erratic personality that was another matter.

The sight of a crystal hanging on string caught Lorne's eye and he examined it. A pretty trinket and one a lady would very much like to possess.

He looked around. Surely his uncle would not notice it missing. But perhaps he ought to take something else, something less obvious. He walked around the wooden table and curiously looked up at the glass containers on the shelves placed on the wall.

He found nothing of interest, just labels of contents he didn't understand. Bored, he was about to turn away and see where his cousin was, when something again caught his eye.

It was a piece of purple velvet, a small pouch carefully wrapped and placed in a glass container that looked different to the others. His curiosity piqued again, he turned back to the shelf. It was on the top one, almost out of sight, as if it was not supposed to be seen.

Lorne dragged the nearby stool from the floor and stepped up to take the small item. He did so without managing to break anything or lose balance. Setting foot on ground again, he opened the glass lid and lifted the pouch out.

He carefully unwrapped the black string and shook the contents out and into his palm.

His eyes widened at the sight he saw. Three softly glowing white stones, each one tied to string, like a necklace.

He had never seen such stones. Their luminosity was fascinating and their beauty reminded him of another beauty.

A young woman fit to possess such a great treasure.

He stood, silently arguing whether his uncle would notice if he took one of the stones. Then he reasoned that surely his uncle would not notice if he took the smallest stone.

Surely he wouldn't. And besides…she was worth it.

He slipped the smallest stone into his pocket and carefully tied the black string around the small pouch, replacing it in the glass container. He then put the container back exactly the way he had found it, replaced the stool and quickly left the store.

It was a bright and magnificent day outside. The people were busy about their daily tasks and as it was still early morning, the market square was packed full of villagers stocking up on daily supplies.

Lorne saw many familiar faces. He was a handsome youth and so often found himself on the receiving end of many admiring glances from the young women of the village. But he could scarcely care for them. There was only one woman talented and beautiful enough worthy of his time.

He passed the market stalls, wondering where his uncle was. As he rounded the corner and headed towards the small lake, he slipped a hand into his pocket and felt the cool stone necklace he had taken. He suddenly began to have second thoughts on his decision and contemplated returning the stone. Lost in deep thought, he failed to see the figure that was heading towards him until they collided.

His head snapped up and he frowned out of instinct, but then his frown softened as his eyes set on the fair face of the very lady he had stolen the necklace for.

Valynne blinked, steadying the basket of flowers she held in her hand.

'Oh! Lorne…' She smiled and then averted her eyes, pushing back a strand of long silky hair behind her ear. Her eyes then moved back to him, twinkling in merriment.

'You know, you should look where you are going…'

He stared at her, having no idea how to reply. The corners of her soft, rosy pink lips stretched further up and she giggled in her breathy manner.

Finally he found his voice, his eyes lowering to look at the flower basket.

'Are those preparations for the ceremony to greet the new spring?'

'Yes.' She smiled and lifted one red flower and laced it into her hair expertly. 'It shall be a fine ceremony! You will come I hope?'

'Should I?' He asked, looking away.

'But of course! For you are my severest critic and I am determined to impress you with my singing and my dancing!'

The corners of his lips twitched but he managed to hide his amused smile. 'You have enough admirers Valynne.'

'True…' She pouted. 'But they mean nothing to me…those that I would wish to admire…think little of me.'

Her eyes moved to him and then shyly darted away. Finding nothing else to say, Lorne pulled out the necklace and held it out to her.

She looked at it, and then at him questioningly. 'What is this?'

'Something that would be of better use with you.'

Curiously, she balanced the basket on her slender hip and reached out and took the necklace. She gazed at the stone, and then her eyes widened in wonder as she saw it glow softly.

'Ah, I have never seen such a beautiful stone…what is it?'

'Its mystery is what makes it enchanting.' Lorne replied. He had no idea what it was, but he didn't want to admit it.

'You…you would wish me to have this?' She turned beautiful eyes at him.

He nodded. She smiled in delight and set the basket down and fastened the necklace around her neck. Then she pushed back her long, glorious hair and smiled at Lorne.

'Well, what say you of it? Does it suit me?'

'Like it was made for you.' He replied.

She smiled and touched the stone gently. 'Thank you Lorne…it's beautiful.' Her eyes moved to him and she seemed to consider, before suddenly stepping forward and placing a quick and light kiss on his cheek.

He froze, stunned, the smell of her sweet perfume overwhelming his thoughts and senses. A faint blush had touched her cheeks but she picked up the basket and without another word, continued on her way.

Lorne stood, trying to make sense of the various emotions that had been let loose from her small and simple action.

He did not see that some distance away, a young man stood, leaning against a tree. His deep green eyes followed after the figure of the slender girl and then moved to Lorne, narrowing as they fixed on the raven-haired youth.

Soren had seen everything.


'Hellooo!' The high pitched voice cut into her sleep, her sanctuary from the harshness of reality.

Vreya groaned and pulled the soft blanket over her head. Her tormenter would not give up so easily however, and the warmth suddenly disappeared as the blanket was cruelly yanked from her.

'I said wake up sleeping sunshine…wake up!'

Vreya's eyes cracked open and rested on the cheerful, bright-eyed face of Selphie.

The petite brunette grinned at her success and ruffled Vreya's hair playfully.

'Rise and shine!'

Vreya disliked being dragged out of her sleep, especially when she had been having such a strange and interesting dream about Lorne and a young woman with long, silky hair she was sure she had dreamt of before. She decided she needed answers and had a mind of who to get those answers from. But for the moment, it was impossible to focus on anything and anyone else except for Selphie.

'Ugh…Selphie…I was dreaming…' Vreya complained.

'Oooh! Was he tall, light-haired, green-eyed and somebody we know?' Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

He had been tall, light-haired and green-eyed, but not who Selphie was referring to. Vreya glared.

Selphie giggled and Quistis's rational, soothing voice berated her. The young woman had just finished fixing her hair.

'Selphie, she's just woken up. Give her space.'

'Sorry Vreya.' Selphie winked, not looking the least bit like she was. Vreya rolled her eyes and finally sat up. Selphie giggled again, finding something very funny. Vreya stared at her and Quistis raised a fine brow.

'Selphie…'

'I'll go and see if the guys are up!' Selphie, always a ball of bouncy energy, raced out of the room.

'How can she be so hyper so early?' Vreya wondered to Quistis, who shrugged.

'I don't know how she does it. Most people would be exhausted but no, she never stops.'

Rinoa appeared at the doorway, dressed and the perfect picture of beauty, as ever. She smiled at Vreya.

'Morning sleepy!'

'Morning…' Vreya stifled a yawn. 'What time is it?'

'Nine thirty.' Quistis replied.

'Gee, why did you wake me up? We stayed out late last night.'

'Lazy!' Rinoa exclaimed. 'Come on! Fleck called us up for breakfast almost 10 minutes ago!'

'We'll go on ahead.' Quistis nodded. 'See you upstairs.'


After breakfast the mentors went into one room to have a meeting, and the teenagers set about busying themselves either by training or passing the time by other means.

Quistis flicked through the thick book in her hand. It was entitled The Greatest Moments of World History. With everything that had been going on, she had hardly had any time to find out more about the Earth's different cultures and traditions, as well as its history. Since they had a little breathing space while the mentors decided on what the next best possible action was, she reasoned that it was as good a time as any to learn a few things. Rinoa and Selphie sat beside her, Selphie with a teenage magazine Roxy had brought in, and Rinoa was looking at it with her, giggling at the pictures of cute and significantly less cute boys.

Across the room in the large training area, Costa was firing wooden bullets while Irvine lazily sat back, throwing in a comment or two as he watched. Sara and Gen watched Costa and offered words of encouragement, though Sara's were more on the sarcastic side.

Squall sat on one of the mats, reading through a geography encyclopaedia. Like Quistis, he was curious about the many different countries of the world they were in. Zell, Lila, Ash and Roxy were in a heated discussion and Vreya rearranged some of the targets with Seifer's help.

'Hey Quisty, look at this!' Selphie giggled at the article she was reading.

'Hmm.' Quistis replied absentmindedly, without looking up from her book.

Rinoa peered at her friend. 'Hey what are you reading?'

'By the looks of that huge book, something boring I'll bet.' Seifer remarked as he and Vreya set up targets near to the girls.

'Is that the history book?' Vreya asked. 'That's such a dull read.'

'This magazine isn't!' Selphie exclaimed and she and Rinoa laughed.

'Actually I find it very informative.' Quistis defended. 'There are far more countries and continents in this world than there are in ours and subsequently, so much more history.'

'What's your world like?' Vreya asked.

'Full of mostly desert, water and grass.' Selphie replied. 'With the odd town here and there.'

'Aren't there many people?'

'There are too many!' Selphie cried. 'I don't know why they don't build more towns!'

'I think President Loire is starting a project to build more…' Quistis began.

'Yeah about time.' Seifer rolled his eyes.

'Be that as it may, I still miss home…' Rinoa's voice trailed off, and she hugged her knees to her chest.

Vreya smiled sympathetically.

'I think being stuck here is cool.' Selphie grinned. 'Look at all the great people we've met!'

Seifer muttered something inaudible and turned his attention back to Quistis.

'Are you planning to actually finish that entire book?'

Quistis shot him a look. 'I am planning to educate myself…'

'By reading all of that…?'

'As much as I can.'

Seifer gave her a look of disbelief.

She raised a brow.

'You never did pay attention to history classes, it makes sense the thought would horrify you.'

A small, sly smirk formed on Seifer's lips. Quistis blinked, clueless as to why he was smiling suddenly.

'There were more interesting things to focus on.' He remarked.

Selphie blinked, and then let out a huge 'wooooo!' that caught the attention of almost everyone in the room.

Rinoa giggled and Quistis blushed a light shade of pink. Seifer's smirk widened and then he turned away to collect the rest of the equipment from the other side of the room.

Vreya looked at Rinoa and Selphie in confusion.

'What?'

'Quistis used to teach history class.' Selphie cackled.

'Oh…' a smile played on Vreya's lips as she glanced at the flushed instructor.

'You're all very immature.' Quistis muttered, raising the heavy book as high as she could and pretending to lose herself in the contents. But deep within her heart was pounding at the sudden and unexpected compliment that had been paid to her.


His eyes stared in disbelief at what he saw on screen. The young people had disposed of all of the guards so easily. They were clearly skilled users of magic, and their fighting skills had improved greatly since the last video he had seen of them.

He could take no more. Such failure was inexcusable.

'Turn it off.' Lorne ordered, through his teeth. One of the savages fumbled with the remote, and when he did not immediately turn the screen off, Lorne yelled in fury at him, standing up and slamming his hands on the desk.

'Turn it off now!'

'Y…yes Great One…it's just I…'

Richter stood deathly still in front of Lorne.

The savage was far too slow. Lorne growled and a moment later, a ball of blazing purple light was fired at the fumbling savage, and when it disappeared, the savage was no more.

The others swallowed in fear.

Lorne turned furious eyes onto Richter. 'I charged your uncle with the keeping of the prison. How could he fail! How could you let them escape! Are you all so worthless that a bunch of children can outwit you!'

Richter swallowed. He was full of rage and bitterness at the death of his uncle. He swore he would kill the green-eyed young man who was responsible.

'What happened?' Lorne demanded. Then, at Richter's silence, he angrily threw heavy books off the desk and they slammed onto the floor just in front of Richter. 'Answer me!'

Richter swallowed and slowly looked up. 'Master, my uncle told me to stay back and make sure the emergency plan was executed. I could…do nothing. I…watched him die on camera.'

'Your orders come from me!' Lorne snarled. 'And your pathetic uncle had it coming! Curses! If failure runs in your bloodline it would be better to dispose of you now! Worthless mongrels! It was a mistake bringing any of you here. Worthless, all worthless! Can you do nothing right?'

Richter said nothing, silently furious at the insults.

Lorne looked away, fuming. They were stronger than he had expected, and they would keep getting stronger. The ones that were more proficient in their battle skills were the ones teaching Earth's children how to improve. Lorne knew it. Already, the slender brunette girl's magical abilities were honing to the point of being unstoppable by most forces. Every time he saw her, suspicions filled his mind. She was a sorceress, and yet, there was more. There was only one way to make sure however, and that was to capture her and extract the truth from her. The problem was, getting to her was no easy task. There had to be a reason why she was so guarded. Even the stoic green-eyed youth, the stubborn fool who Lorne vowed to deliver a nasty end to, protected the girl with everything. He had even killed another human to stop harm coming to her. There had to be a reason.

Could it be she is what I am searching for? He had considered the likelihood that Vreya was in fact The One. There was no way to find out unless she was captured, or…

His eyes moved back to Richter. He remembered that the youth had had another plan, another way of finding out who The One was. But in order for it to work, Lorne would have to alter his appearance, as well as have a fake Earth stone made that would glow when Richter came close. Everything that could pass him off as a chosen one had to be taken into consideration.

His eyes narrowed. There was no other way, and things were becoming desperate. The more he stalled, the more time the enemy had to improve. He could not afford to take anymore chances. The rest of his soldiers were worthless and would easily be defeated. He would have to release a higher number of upper level monsters, and use another cunning way to get into the circle of the chosen ones.

Which meant that he had to trust his hopes in the hands of the young man who stood before him.

'Richter.' He hissed. The youth's eyes turned to him.

'You will go ahead with your plan. Just as you wanted. I will prepare the potion that will alter your appearance and will manage the rest of the preparations. You will leave tomorrow and you will bring me back The One. Do you understand me?'

Richter nodded, letting his face give nothing away of the satisfaction he felt of getting his way at last.

'If you fail, you will wish you had died with your miserable uncle.' Lorne glared. Then his eyes turned to the savage who stood behind the boy.

'Prepare the casting room!'


Something was ringing shrilly in his ear. Something was not letting him sleep. Angrily, he reached out and slammed the offending thing with pinpoint accuracy. It stopped.

Zane cracked open an eye and winced at the bright sunlight that spilled in through the curtains. He had gotten back late last night, and after showering, had attempted to eat something. Failing at that, he had retired to bed, only he had hardly gotten any sleep. He couldn't. His experience the previous night had shaken him more than he liked to admit.

He twisted his neck and blinking through bleary eyes, glanced at the time.

It was 1.30pm.

He then noticed the answering machine's message button flashing red. He sat up slowly and rubbed at his eyes tiredly, before jabbing a finger at the button.

'You have 3 messages…' The automated female's voice stated. 'First message received today at 11am…'

There was a crackle, and Zane waited, but no message came. Then another crackle and the female voice said: 'To listen to the message again, press 1…'

What message…? Zane thought in irritation. How stupid. He deleted the message and waited to hear the next one.

'Second message, message received today at 11.05am…'

Another crackle, and then a familiar voice spoke:

'Hey kiddo. Sorry about that other message. I hope you're not asleep…the rest are all here, training. Get your ass down here as soon as you hear this.'

Zane frowned at Fleck's message and deleted it. Didn't the guy ever have a break?

'Third message, message received today at 1pm…'

'Zane, where the hell are you? I'll give you an hour to get here. If you're not, you train extra hard next time.'

As if he didn't anyway. Zane deleted Fleck's third message and sighed heavily. He really wasn't in the mood. He cursed his luck for being a chosen one to begin with and stood up. Just enough time to freshen up, change, grab something to eat, and then he had to leave.

He walked to the bathroom and washed his face with ice cold water. Immediately, he felt more awake. Then he brushed his teeth and walked back to his room to change.

Five minutes later, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he stared at the contents. Damn. He had to go shopping. He grabbed a carton of near finished orange juice and the last bagel left. A further 10 minutes later, he was clearing up and about to leave the kitchen, when he got the sudden strange feeling that he was being watched.

Slowly placing the glass on the rack, he dried his hands and looked back over his shoulder.

What he saw startled and surprised him, but he was quick to catch any looks of shock before they registered on his face.

Aurion stood at the doorway, his arms folded, his golden eyes fixed on Zane.

For some reason, Zane could never hold that gaze for too long. There was something about Aurion that made him feel immensely uncomfortable, but he had no idea what it was. Ever since he had first seen the Guardian King, the feeling that something was not quite right had lingered.

Turning to face him fully, Zane said, as flatly as he could, and making sure to look as if he was not intimidated:

'What are you doing here?'

Aurion's eyes narrowed in response.

'Perhaps you would like to address that very question to yourself.' Came the equally as cold reply.

'…' Zane frowned. He was in no mood for riddles. 'What?' He asked at length, annoyed. This was his home. What sort of stupid question was that?

'Tell me boy. Why do you not yet have an elemental to call your own?'

Zane did meet his gaze then. Folding his own arms, he replied sarcastically:

'Well I don't know. I was hoping as their King, you could tell me. Guess there's no chance of that then.'

Something flared in Aurion's eyes, and Zane immediately regretted his words.

Shit…I shouldn't have said that…He thought. Something told him he could not be sarcastic, should not be disrespectful to the figure that stood across the room.

'Or perhaps…' Aurion's voice lowered and became soft and dangerous in tone, '…you already know the answer, but are too blind to acknowledge it.'

'I don't know what the hell you're talking about.' Zane looked away. 'I'd love to stick around and chat, but I'm already late…'

'Yes. You are late.'

What? He agreed? Zane frowned again, turning his eyes back to the Guardian King.

'And with each day you pass blind, you put her in more and more danger. I had hoped you would open your eyes and see for yourself what you are doing, but it seems you are stubborn and blind and will not do so without any interference. Just like your father…who let everything slip from his grasp.'

Zane's eyes widened. He knew his father…?

'What…? You knew my father?'

Aurion's lips curved up into a slight sneer. 'So, now you are ready to listen? Foolish boy. Of course you remember nothing. You do not know why you are here, you do not know how it is you became.'

For some reason, Aurion's words were having an affect. The way the flame-haired Guardian King was looking at him made his stomach twist into knots, made his heart begin to pound.

'What…are you talking about?' Zane demanded hating the fact he was at a disadvantage.

'You have no right to ask any questions. But know this. You can try to run from your destiny, try to delay and prolong it, but you cannot hide from it. You cannot deny it. You were brought here for a purpose. I was not wrong about you. Open your eyes, Zane. Before it is too late.'

What on earth was he talking about? Zane was utterly baffled and stared blankly.

'I don't know what you're…'

'Of course not.' Aurion stepped back. 'But you will. Very soon. Trust your instincts, the way you always have.'

Zane opened his mouth to retort, but Aurion was gone before he could even form the first word. The young man was left to contemplate the meaning of the strange encounter alone.


'So what's the agreed plan now?' Jez demanded.

The mentors were coming to the end of their meeting. They had spent 2 hours discussing the best possible course of action

'I guess we do more monster hunting.' Tai shrugged.

'Morgan, how much time do you think we have before Lorne finds out who The One is?' Rica asked.

'I believe he may already have a suspicion.' Morgan replied.

'Argh.' Fleck rubbed his forehead. 'It's because it's so obvious they're protecting Vreya.'

'Well how are we supposed to make it more subtle?' Locky raised a brow. 'Let her get hurt?'

'Even if we do, what she carried will repel bullets and everything anyway.' Harris pointed out. 'So really, it's just a matter of time…'

'Oh, thank you so much for your intelligent input.' Jez said through her teeth. Harris shrugged.

'I say we do the monster hunting.' Bo agreed. 'It'll give the tykes more practice and they need as much as time can give them.'

'What about Vreya?' Rica said.

'Well if we hid her, it'd be even more obvious.' Tai said.

'She needs to improve.' Morgan added. 'Battle is the only way she can even hope to be prepared.'

'That ends it then.' Jez stood up.

'Right.' Fleck nodded. 'We'll go monster hunting as soon as Zane gets here…if he's even coming.'

'Hey…' Bo coughed. 'I think you need to take it easy on him…'

Fleck laughed bitterly. 'Oh no. Trust me, I can't take it easy on him.'

'Why not?' Locky asked.

'Because Vreya still needs a knight and Zane is still refusing to agree.'

'So why don't we just get someone else to be her temporary knight?' Harris suggested.

'No.' Fleck shook his head, exchanging a look with Morgan, who nodded. Fleck looked back at the others.

'Trust me. I know Zane's the only one for the job. Think of it as…it's the reason why he's here.'


After leaving his motorbike outside, Zane entered the base and made his way to the training room. He found that everyone was indeed there, practicing or talking. The mentors were shouting instructions and no-one noticed as he slipped in, walking towards Fleck.

No-one noticed, until Costa yelled out, that is.

'It looks like Sleeping Beauty is finally awake!'

He felt eyes turn onto him.

Zane gritted his teeth. Once saving the world was over, he would make sure he would give Costa's ass a good kicking.

But he ignored the Latino youth and reached Fleck.

Fleck stood with his arms folded and a displeased look on his face.

'I said be here by 2pm. It's now almost 3pm. Where have you been?' He demanded.

Zane had no answer. He just shrugged in response.

Fleck decided not to press the issue. 'Don't do it again. Forget training. We've been waiting for you.'

'For what?' Zane said.

'We're going to hunt down some monsters. Get your sword. We're leaving now.'


The potion was almost complete. Lorne had used the best knowledge he possessed to create it. He held up the phial that contained the black liquid, and narrowed his eyes. Richter was already a skilled wielder of the sword; he could even wield two at the same time. All that was needed now was a quick briefing of how to use the potion and all would be ready.

Without looking up, he ordered:

'Summon Kane to me.'

Angelheart's End of Chapter Ramble:

ZOMG! Finally an update. I am so sorry this took so long. Thanks so much for being so patient. I split this chapter in half just to give you an update asap. It's been too long. The next one is well under way so it shouldn't take so long. Thanks so much for all the reviews and for sticking with this. I hope it was worth the wait. The action will be in the next chapter, where the gang will meet Richter. Thanks for reading!