Felinis: So my school got delayed because of Irma... We were on the road so we had to drive back and ughhhhhhh.

"Oh you gotta be kidding..." Yuri groans looking at the assassin swinging his blades about with a playful madness.

"Yuri! You've managed to stay alive long enough for me to kill you! Now let me show you my thanks!" Zagi cackles.

"Heh heh. Hate to disappoint you, but I've got other reasons for sticking around."

Zagi's mouth stretches into an impossible grin. "You are the only man ever to make me bleed, and I swear that you will die by my hand!"

"Man, why not do something a little more productive with all that energy?" Yuri huffs.

Zagi's eye twitches with a sick glee. "Watch this!" He raises an arm that's covered in some sort of mechanical glove and a blast of energy erupts exploding in the air. "How do you like my arm? You did this to me, and now I'll use it to destroy you! Hah hah hah hah!" Somebody get this man some morphine. His companions run in to assist as Zagi proudly flexes his arm. "Come, Yuri! Let me show you my new toy!" The man charges with incredible straight for Yuri's throat and he barely manages to get out of the way.

Zagi slashes over and over with his blade and Yuri sidesteps him till Flynn comes from behind launching an arte at point blank. Despite the torrent of water and rising stones from Rita's spells, and the normally crushing efforts of Flynn's artes Zagi stubborn as a roach and gets back up quickly. The man is screaming about blood as Judith tries to lunge from above only to be blocked. Rita and Estelle focus on casting spells and keeping everyone in shape while Karol is dealing with the perimeter in case Zagi tries to run alongside with Repede. Yuri is more than a little cocky right now because the man's moves while deadly are sloppier than last they fought… but then again Yuri had been running a fever on a sinking boat. So he had a sizeable handicap before. It's a split second but Zagi launches a blast from his arm that grazes Yuri in the leg… The next thing Yuri knows he's on top of Zagi and his mouth tastes like iron. He jumps away and Zagi is laughing manically at the gouge in his shoulder. "Oh, wow. Hehehe, oh Yuri, now I really need to kill you! You're crazy! I love it!"

Yuri spits out the blood and few bits of flesh in disgust. "Having you call me crazy is just weird."

His shot leg is pained as Zagi tries to cut him again when Rita fires spells at the arm causing it to burst. The mad man is flung to the ground and laughs as he rises up. Zagi tries to launch an explosion only for it to recoil on him and further tear his shoulder. A dark cloud of aer and magic surrounds his arm viscously. "This damn blastia's not doing what I want it to!" Zagi screams launching more attacks, they all jump out of the way of the erratic explosions breaking the coliseum walls. Monsters break loose from the walls running wildly about and in the chaos of trying to deal with them Zagi slips away.

Despite their annoyance they have to keep the remaining people safe. Dealing with monsters is easy enough as his sword cuts through his enemies. Yuri huffs drawing his blade from a mantis chest. Yuri stops a shrill scream enters his ears and Rita shouts about her magic going out of control. A glow fades and Estelle looks at the box in her bag looking at the light dying from the chest. "Could this box be causing everything?" She squeaks as the box is swiped by that guild leader from the docks last night that leads Judith and Repede to give chase. The chase gives way to them heading out of town and before they know it they're hunting the Regaey the whole day across the peninsula.

As they're trailing Regaey as quickly as they can Karol stops to look up at Yuri. "Okay, are we not going to talk about how Yuri tried to rip Zagi's arm off with his teeth? Yuri, seriously what's wrong with you?"

"Yeah, I want to know too!" Rita says crossing her arms as she halts beside Karol.

Yuri downcast his eyes and keeps moving forward. "It doesn't matter."

"Yuri, we're guildmates! You can tell us!" Karol pleads. "Plus, at this point it's really obvious something is up."

He's inches from snapping… Yuri more than starved and exhausted now that his brief glimpse of sleep has worn off. Frankly, he's just not in a good mood with everything that's happened even the joy he got fighting Flynn was fleeting. Yuri has learned he literally has about a year left to live… What the hell is he supposed to do knowing that?

What should Yuri even say: "Look, it turns out I'm slowly turning into a monster and losing my mind. Sorry about that! But, hey, now you can have cool mascot for the guild; provided I don't try and eat anyone."

Yuri scowls at Judith as it's obvious she's still digging in his head and he wants not a word on the matter. "He's sick." She blurts casually.

"Judy!"

"You need to come out and say it eventually. It's not like you can keep it a secret forever."

Karol looks at him and Yuri sighs at all the worry on the kid's face. "Is it true Yuri? What's wrong with you?"

It's not right to lie to the kid or to treat Karol like he doesn't deserve to know. They've traveled enough for Yuri to know that. "Yeah…" He keeps walking as Repede leads onward down the trail. "I… I guess the best way to put it would be that I have degenerative genetic disease."

"Does it cause your hands to become deformed?" Rita says looking closely at the gloves on his hands.

"… Yeah, along with a bunch of other shit, like blackouts. It tends to act up around thick aer."

"Oh, so that's what the stupid aer allergy was about." Karol nods. "Wait, so is there any way we can fix it? I know of a few medical guilds back in Dahngrest! Maybe they can help cure you!"

Rita smacks Karol lightly on the head. "Idiot, didn't you hear this is a genetic disorder! I doubt there's a cure."

"Don't be such a downer! We can still try!" Karol shouts back. "Right, Yuri?"

"I don't see why not."

"It's great to see ya kids so full of life. Helps put a step in this old man's withered soul."

Rita snorts. "You have a soul?"

Raven strokes his chin and just keeps walking on with a casual smile. "Probably. I'm not sure about you."

"Shut it!"

They don't want to stop, but when night comes there's no choice. Repede assures him that he can still trace the scent to their relief. Yuri pushes off the food and just chooses to be on his own plucking at the grass. He does sleep, but only from pure exhaustion and come next day late afternoon they find themselves at the base of a mountain cave.

"Do you think he went this way?" Estelle says entering inside the dark cave illuminated by glowing green crystals.

"Maybe he used this ta get through ta the other side of the mountain."

Karol calls for them to come back looking about cautiously. "But this cave is the Weasand of Cados. A powerful monster called Pteropus lives here. It's supposed to be really dangerous. Or at least that's what Nan told me."

"Perhaps he went inside without knowing that." Judith says gazing about curiously.

Repede silently stalks up to crag and yanks out Regaey from his hiding place. "I found him. What'll we do?"

"W-w-w-wait... P-please l-let me go." The man pleads.

"Looks like he was hiding out here hoping we'd just pass him by." Yuri says crossing his arms and subtly bearing his teeth making Regaey squirm.

Raven claps happily leering over intimidatingly. "Well now. Let's have a nice long chat."

"What were you trying to gain, setting us up like that back at the coliseum?" Yuri prods.

Rita holds out her weapon ready to beat the man. "And give back that case!"

Regaey looks between them nervously and snaps his fingers. "You leave m-me no choice."

From above three Leviathan's Claw members drop from the ceiling allowing Regaey to run off. They end up spending a good minute dealing with the Red-Eyes before running after again. Raven follows hesitantly shouting about his letter that everyone ignores. As Repede guides them down the cavern Raven stops to look about the cave. "Did ya hear somethin'?"

"Aye, right here!"

A voice calls as a figure climbs from over the ledge and Karol jumps a little. "Patty?""

"Oh, we meet again." She smiles clasping her hands that are scrapped from climbing.

"You must be looking for Aifread's treasure if you just came from down there." Yuri says and she nods softly.

"Indeed."

Karol offers a handkerchief and Patty gladly pats away her sweat. "So, what exactly is this treasure?"

A proud grin stretches in front of her face as she sets her hands on her hips. "Listen and be amazed. It's the Maris Stella!"

Rita breaks the ten-second silence and looks at Estelle. "What's that?"

"U-um... I'm not sure."

Karol gasps. "Even Estelle the encyclopedia doesn't know."

"The Maris Stella is the most valuable treasure amongst all of Aifread's treasures!" Patty exclaims.

"So, have you had any luck finding this Maris Stella yet?"

She snorts at Yuri. "A treasure is a treasure because it's hard to find."

"Hey, back in Nordopolica we heard that you're Aifread's Granddaughter from the shopkeepers. Is that true?"

"Yeah, you mentioned you were his grandkid." Yuri adds.

Raven whistles. "What? Is that true, Lil' Missy? Wonder how the Don'd react if he learned his sworn friend had a grandchild."

"Now that you mention it, the Don and Aifread were friends since the formation of the Union, weren't they?" Estelle chirps.

"But Aifread having a grandchild can't be true, right? I mean, I've never heard anything about that before." Karol softly protests.

"It's the truth! ...Probably."

Estelle blinks. "Probably? What do you mean?"

Patty shrugs. "It means that it's a guess."

"What she's asking is why you would be guessing who your grandfather is." Rita huffs in annoyance.

"Oh. Well, it's because I have amnesia." It all becomes clear and everyone let's out an 'oh'. "Well, that's how it is."

"So what yer sayin' is, ya really have no idea if yer Aifread's grandchild or not?"

Patty waves a finger at him. "It's absolutely true!" There's a pause and she knits her arms together. "...Probably."

"Ah, geez! Are you sure, or are you not? Pick one!" Rita groans.

"I'm searching for Maris Stella because I'm not sure if I am."

"So in other words, you want to meet Aifread to get your memory back, because he might be your grandfather. And in order to do that, you're going around looking for Aifread's treasure, the Maris Stella." Yuri more than understands her reasons and desire. It sucks not knowing who and what you are… Even if the truth sucks.

She smiles soft. "Aye. One day, I'll meet him."

"How about joining us? We're on a treasure hunt of our own right now." Yuri asks and she smiles.

"My, my, a treasure hunt with a strapping young man! How could I refuse."

As they're walking through Estelle is lost in thought glancing at the small child. "I thought amnesia was something that only happened in stories."

"It's actually surprisingly common. There've been loads of cases where people got involved in blastia experiments that went wrong, and then forgot the entire thing. It's pretty rare to be left with no memory whatsoever, though." Rita says looking for any sign that Regaey walked through.

"It must be lonely."

Patty nods as Judith stops to think. "But even if you can't remember your past, you can make new memories from here on out. I don't think that sounds so bad..."

"I get it! That's another way of thinking about it." Patty grins. "From here on out, I'll fill my album of memories with Yuri, and Yuri, and Yuri!"

Rita grimaces. "That's one creepy album."

Estelle laughs awkwardly. "I-it'd be nice if you made a little room for us in there, too..."

"Aye. I suppose I can spare a corner for you."

Yuri feels the hair on the back of his neck stand as he walks through the caverns. The aer around them is getting ungodly thick driving setting his nerves on edge. As they turn a corner Repede yells that he's sees Regaey in the distant and they bolt after. The man is coughing asking for help and Yuri staggers to his knees from how thick the aer is.

Rita's eyes light with an eager enthusiasm. "This is just like at Keiv Moc! Is there an aer krene here, too?"

"Yuri! What's wrong?" He can't breathe and there's a burning in his throat. Yuri is choking and gasping as he feels the red aer cloud his mouth. "Yuri! Please snap out of it!" He attempts to take a deep breath and the world is spinning as aer crawls into his mouth.

That's right, Yuri is hungry and aer is food for Entelexeia.

He lets it pour in filling his insides. It's different from last time, instead of an unspeakable sweet water it's more like a fruit mist that's flavor can't be grasped. It's sweet and that's all Yuri can safely say. He keeps taking it in till the red sea of aer around them has dissipated but he's still hungry. Yuri needs more! Why? It doesn't matter when he's hungry like this! He's aware that people are talking to him, but it is of little consequence as he paws to the aer krene for more food. More!

Yuri growls when he's knocked onto his side and bears his fangs at the one who did. He's not aware who he's with just that this small female interrupted him. She's yelling but he just hisses. He needs this! Yuri so starving at he's only eaten twice in a decade. Where is the pretty one? That one would know better than to interrupt! The pretty one always leaves him be. They keep saying things and Yuri barely grasp it. His name is repeated followed by shaky tones and whines. The pretty one sometimes talks that way too.

He bolts away when he hears a familiar call. Yuri he's clumsy as his body is still in this strange shape. Change... with enough food he can feed his transformation and the primitive part that sleeps can finally put the unnecessary things away. Names and memories not crucial are free to disappear. That is what the monster inside him says. This weird thing that worms in and speaks language and facts needs to be killed. It's a parasite he's spent years trying to kill, but recently poison has weakened it. He can kill it with more food, more strength.

Yuri pounces on top of that person holding onto the stone calling for him. The person falls down and Yuri wrestles the chest away as the man screams. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Monstra!"

"Yuri!" That poison calls behind. "Regaey, stop and explain yourself."

An explosion goes off and standing is a different figure. "Yeager!"

"My, my, this all very interesting, ya. Yuri Lowell, you really let your wild side get away with you. For a moment, I thought I'd end up like poor Ragou."

Estelle steels her sword cautiously. "What happened to Ragou?"

"Such a tragedy, found him lying face first in the bottom of a river bed." Yeager tisks sadly. "Poor, poor fellow."

"Ragou is dead!" Karol gasps.

"It is a tragedy, but sadly I must off." The two girls from Heliord jump in. "Gauche, Droite, take care of this."

The girls nod tossing down smoke and stink bombs down as they make their escape again. As everyone is looking to chase after it's Karol and Patty that prove the rational ones. "Guys we can't leave Yuri like this! He's totally irrational!"

"Aye, he's acting like a mad beast..." Patty mutters something stirring in her mind.

Estelle and Rita are torn between chasing after and helping their friend. "We have the case we can look for him later." Raven says and Rita hesitantly agrees.

Yuri has backed into a corner growling at them with a snarl. "Judith you know how to deal with this best. What to do we do?" Estelle says and the Krytian just pouts.

"I'm not sure... This is different than last time. He was already tied up and mostly calm."

Rita strides forward ignoring protest and holds out a stern hand. "Heel." Yuri ignores her for the most part but does pause a moment. "I said, heel!" Yuri stops this time longer as she pulls out her scarf. "Stay." He growls as she gets close, but Rita kicks him in the gut when he tries to attack letting her wrap up his hands. "Well, at least he understands Geraios."

"Wow, Rita! I didn't know you could speak another language." Karol whistles as she finishes tying the knot.

"Of course I do. I'm a genius." She yells for Yuri to be quiet as Rita yanks on his antenna. "Ugh, how do we fix this moron?"

Estelle wishes she knew but Flynn has told her so little about Yuri's condition. The most she knows is that he's feral like this and there's no way they can go back to Nordipolica like this. They'll have to wait for him to calm down. "He's hungry." They turn to Judith who his calmly stroking his hair. "He was thinking it at the aer krene. Yuri, must have gotten an overload back there.

Rita's eyes are alight as she examines him. "I can't believe he regulated the aer krene by consuming aer! How did he do it?" The mage is alight with theories and formulas as she looks at the man. What is Yuri Lowell? Rita wants to know now that this anomaly has happened. "Can we take him back to the aer krene? I want to see him do that again!"

"No way!" Karol yells pushing Rita away. "Don't go treating Yuri like an experiment!"

"Aren't you curious?"

"No, I'm not! Yuri isn't some blastia for you to play with! What matters now is figuring out what to do so we can help him." Karol doesn't know what's happening or get what he should do, but he knows Yuri is his friend. They can't just prod him without consent. "Estelle, what did you do last time Yuri got like this?"

"Yuri had me tie him up and Judith made sure to force feed him."

Patty rocks slowly deep in thought. "I think it's best we let him calm down. If eating aer did this wouldn't it best to keep him away."

Rita crosses her arms in annoyance. Her formula is so close that she can taste it! "Fine. I'm going back to study the aer krene."

"Wait, I'll come with you. It's not safe walking alone." Rita doesn't care either way and she goes to the aer krene with every intent of studying until Yuri is back to his senses. The krene hasn't been excessively pouring aer… so than what was that disturbance? Could it be related to the Clear Ciel Crystal? She'd have to bring that over… The aer krene appears to pour at fairly regular intervals… If the right formula stimulated the aer krene than it's more than likely the aer could spew at rapid intervals… "Rita, you should have a snack."

The mage turns from her work to see Estelle happily holding out a rice-ball. Rita notices that she is hungry and she takes it awkwardly. "Thanks…"

"You're so passionate when you work! It's exciting."

Rita chuckles as she takes a bite. "Oh please, this is nothing. I don't even have any real equipment."

"I'd love to see you really work!" Her cheeks flush a little in embarrassment. Estelle is impressed far too easily and frankly, Rita has no clue how to deal with it. Everyone is always impressed with her though; so, it should mean nothing special from Estelle, but her genuine innocent joy throws off her guard. The girl is too wonderful and Rita wonders why she even likes Rita. Estelle could have any friend, yet she wants Rita. And, Rita… oh, Rita is more than aware she has the disposition of a spoiled lemon. She won't say that she dislikes having Estelle as her friends…

Yuri blinks awake an hour later with a headache… He feels funny, but not in the usual way. He feels like he's been watching everything through a foggy lens. Yuri knows he ate aer and that he ran after the chest, but he's not sure on whys or details. "Hey."

Karol, Raven, Judith, and Patty are sitting about playing cards. Karol jumps and scrambles over. "Yuri! Are you all right?"

"Yeah, now I am." He's untied and Yuri stretches his sore muscles in annoyance. "I guess I owe a better explanation?"

"Aye, this is all very confusing."

"There's a town not too far from here once we enter the Sands of Kogorh. I say we stop there."

"But, doesn't the little lady need to keep looking for her treasure?" Raven says but Patty just smiles eagerly.

"No fear, where there's people there's clues aplenty. I'll fetch the other girls, just for you." She leaves giving him a wink. Rita is more than eager to pester him on the manner, but also dreading the heat once the leave the cavern. It doesn't stop her from asking exhausted questions about Yuri's aer consumption. He just keeps his mouth shut till they reach the sleepy oasis town of Mantaic about an hour before sunset. There are knights milling about that set both him and Judith on edge as they walk through. Everyone agrees that they need a break to mill about and relax so they do. Yuri and Judith sticking by each other as they mingle through the streets.

"Man, everything is just too damn complicated." Yuri huffs.

"Isn't it more exciting this way?"

He raises a brow. "In this case I'd say no. My life is way too complicated lately."

"Even when you become a monster Ba'ul and I promise to take care of you."

"I'd rather not be a pet." Yuri spits.

Judith turns away and rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. "I'm sorry; I know it's hard for you. What will you do when it gets to a critical point?" Yuri doesn't even bother sighing he lets his heart droop. He's not sure, but frankly he hopes someone kills him by then.

Felinis: Much drama to happen in latter chapters. And when school gets back I will be returning to my other fics. Over the summer I really just wanted to focus on one fic in particular.