*Familiar~Stranger~3*


Biore stood before the sorcerers, clearly nervous.
"So you say Rafe was acting strangely, and gripping his chest as if in pain?" One of the sorcerers said quietly. Biore swallowed, then nodded. The sorcerers turned to each other and started talking quietly. Biore took the hint and left.
"The Albatou went through the same thing, do you think it could be wearing off?"
"We should call for Rafe and redo it." Said another, but the last one looked unsure.
"Are you positive that's wise? We almost lost Albatou because of it." The others turned to him.
"Would you rather Dilandau find out who we USED for the Fate Alteration?" The sorcerer sighed.
"You are right. I will go retrieve the Slayer Rafe." He then turned and entered a seperate room where he called up Dilandau on a screen.

*10~minutes~later*

Dilandau stormed through the hall towards the Dragon Slayer's dorm, obviously angered about something. He slammed the door open and called Rafe over to the door, then led him down the hall.
"Lord Dilandau, where are we going?" Dilandau glared at him.
"WE'RE not going anywhere. YOU'RE going to the socerers. They want to see you for some reason." Rafe froze in horror.
"T-the sorcerers?" He stopped suddenly, startling Dilandau. "No! I, I'm not going back to them!"
"You are, and you're going now." Rafe pulled back on Dilandau's grip.
"NO. I'M. NOT!!!!!" Dilandau got fed up and hit him over the head with the back of his sword. Rafe instantly collapsed.
"Sorry 'bout that, but the sorcerers threatened to take me off Zaibach if I didn't bring you to them." He looked down at him. "I wonder why they want you so badly. And I wonder what he meant by, going back to them."

*30~minutes~later*

"LET ME GO!!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!" The sorcerers looked down at him with no expression in their faces.
"When will he change back, if he does?"
"We won't give him that chance." The one closest to Rafe answered as he took out a needle. Rafe instantly noticed.
"NO, GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!! I DON'T WANT TO BE THIS PERSON ANY MORE!! I WANT TO BE MYSELF AGAIN!!" He said, his voice cracking with fear. The sorcerer ignored him and shoved the needle into his arm.

*Back~At~The~Vione*

Dilandau stood in the hanger, waiting for the Leva-ship to bring back Rafe. Soon it came into view and docked. Dilandau walked over and watched as Rafe was led onto the Vione. He jerked his arm out of the grip of the guard and walked over to Dilandau. The guard looked over at Dilandau.
"If he starts acting strangely again, let us know." Dilandau watched him leave, then turned to Rafe.
"Come on. Let's get you back to the dorm." Rafe nodded and followed him down the hall.
He entered the dorm, and was surprised to find it empty.
"They must be at training." He said quietly, and left for the training room.
He entered the training room and saw everyone practicing. "Good, I need to practice." He walked over to Viole, who was standing off on his own. "Want to battle?" Biore nodded and pulled out his sword; Rafe followed suit and they got into postition.
"I'm warning you, I've practiced." Biore said. Rafe smirked.
"Good." he hissed as he charged.

Dilandau watched him straining against Biore's sword and wondered why the sorcerers wanted to see him so badly. *He doesn't seem to have anything wrong with him.* Biore pushed against him hard and Rafe stumbled back a few steps before getting his footing again. "I see you have practiced. I like that, it makes you a better challange." And he continued to battle.

Afterwards, Rafe was leaning against the railing watching the scenery slowly roll by. He stared down into the lake under the Vione and noticed fish swimming beneath the surface. He heard the click of boots on the floor and turned to see Dilandau behind him.
"Rafe, do you know why the sorcerers wanted to see you?" Rafe looked back down at the lake.
"Yeah, but I'm not allowed to say." Dilandau walked over beside him and looked down at the lake. He reached up to his neck and clasped the necklace he wore without realizing what he was doing. Rafe looked over and saw him holding something. "What's that?" He asked. Dilandau looked at him.
"What?"
"That, in your hand." He said, pointing. "What is it?" He looked down.
"Oh this? A friend gave me this necklace before-" His voice cracked. "Before she died." He pulled away his hand and showed Rafe the red pendant hanging off a thin chain. Rafe studied it.
"Strange."
"What?" Dilandau questioned. Rafe brushed his fingers over the pendant.
"This looks familiar." Dilandau narrowed his eyes and pushed away his hand.
"Curfew is in 30 minutes. You're late, you sleep in the hanger." He then walked away. Rafe turned back and looked down at the lake. He heard Dilandau slam the door behind him and smirked.
"I'm 20, and I have a curfew." He then thought of the pendant. Suddenly, he realized where he had seen it before. He bent over as a sudden shot of pain ran across his back. Rafe started gasping and fell to his knees. He felt his bones suddenly give a loud crack and gasped as his shoulders seemed to compact into the shape of a female's. His eyes changed color as did his hair. Soon it quieted and a different form stood up. She shook her hair out of her eyes and looked around. "Where, where am I?" She looked down at her hands and was shocked to see them covered in gloves. "These are Zaibach's Dragon Slayer's gloves. So that means..." She looked around,
a small grin crossing her face "...I'm back." She noticed that she was in the hanger. "I wonder if they still have my guymelef." She wandered around the hanger until she saw it sitting a ways away. "They did keep it!" She climbed up and looked it over. "They repaired it? I wonder why they did that." She then noticed someone else's sword sitting in the control chamber. "What...?" She reached in and grabbed it. "This isn't my sword so...they gave MY guymelef to someone ELSE?!" Her eyes started to flare with anger.
"HEY!! What are you doing in there?!" Called out a voice. She ignored it; she knew who it was, and pulled out the sword to look at the crest.

Miguel got angry at the fact that whoever was on Rafe's guymelef was ignoring him and walked towards them as they got down while holding Rafe's sword. Miguel growled slightly and ran at the stranger, tackleing them and holding a sword to their throat. He blew the hair out of his eyes and glared at the trespasser. "Now, what do you think you're..." He gasped as he recognized the person instantly. "HITOMI!??!!"


A/N: SEE? SEE?! I TOLD YOU NOT TO FREAK OUT ON ME!!! *L* *mob hangs heads in disappointment and walks away*