-Chapter 4: Uneasy Hearts-

            Zato's eyes flickered gently as he slowly opened them. It was early in the morning. Dawn was beginning to creep slowly through the dead forest, despite its thickness. He could feel the warmth of the sun, almost. Sighing, he studied the ragged sheets that he lay upon, and then let his eyes wander over the dying wooden floor. He was formerly of the dead….raised to live once more…yet here he was…among the dead and dying of nature. As he rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling, Venom caught his intended line of sight instead. He wasn't very far…standing nearby with his arms folded over a bare, bronze chest. His face wasn't as hidden as before. Just….his other eye and no more. Their eyes met but only a few seconds…but during that time, it felt like forever. And…it was because of such a lengthy period without one another that Venom took it upon himself to approach Zato, and sit beside his lounged body on the bed.

"How do you feel?" Venom asked as he looked at Zato's regained complexion. Zato chuckled gently, lifting a hand to run it through his own blonde strands before responding.

"Livelier than before…" he said, smirking some. Venom nodded before leaning towards him a little, to the point where the tips of their noses would make contact. Meeting Zato's pale blue gaze with a deep oceanic one of his own after pushing the remainder of those dove strands aside, behind his ear, Venom spoke in the most gentle of tones that he'd possessed—something that Zato'd only experienced in the past twice.

"I didn't think that I would be able to carry on without you, Zato," he confessed.

"How long were you able to?" Zato inquired. Venom blinked a few times as his gaze drifted momentarily, but then returned to Zato as he moved in a bit closer, whispering now.

"Time would not be able to tell me…for any period without feeling your soul's presence would be a heartache…"

Zato nodded, unmoving as Venom lifted a hand, separating their breaths in the process, to run a thumb over the lower portion of flesh that was Zato's lower lip. The remaining fingers caressed his cheek as Venom began to speak once more, gently pulling his hand away in the process.

"My joy knows no bounds now that you've returned to me, Zato," Venom whispered. Zato sighed a moment before he shifted his body upward some, and in the process captured the lower lip of Venom's within the rose flesh of his own. Venom, in reply, returned the favor a bit more generously, tilting his head some to better accommodate the both of them. After that, it was Zato who decided to break the kiss that the both of them had longed for, and sighed, caressing the portion of Venom's face that once was not visible due to the dove strands that hid it.

"I cannot decide…whether you are more beautiful now than before….or if you were always beautiful, and it was I that did not cherish it as much as I should have," Zato said, smiling gently. Venom returned the favor.

"Either way….you always were and still are beautiful in my eyes," he stated honestly, welcoming Zato into his arms as they shared an embrace not given to one another in what felt like forever…and stayed in that state for a few minutes before letting go. Zato looked at Venom a moment before pushing himself out of bed.

"We will…properly convey our affections once we return to the manor and explain this expulsion of Slayer to the others…agreed?" he said as he watched the sunlight melt through the forest and onto the forest floor. Venom nodded as he pushed himself off of the bed as well, taking his pool stick in hand.

"Agreed."

-

I-no panted as she wiped the smidge of blood from her temple.

"You little bastard! You honestly think you can beat me with a damn yo-yo?!" she yelled. Bridget panted as he wobbled some on his legs. The yo-yo was still clasped firmly in his hand, but by the bruises here and there on his legs and face, one would deduce that he was beginning to falter. I-no grinned as she charged toward him, guitar ready to impale the child and finish him off. Johnny and May were trapped by debris that had thrown them below the deck and down into the halls, and had sealed them in for the moment. I-no dared the rest of the crew to attempt to free them while she dealt with the arrogant choirboy who obviously did not know his place. As she charged towards him, Bridget mustered the remainder of his strength for one last attempt.

"Ahh!…This is for the Jellyfish Pirates! SHOOT THE MOON!!!!" he yelled, hurling his yo-yo at her. I-no scoffed and quickly dodged it.

"Pitiful. Let's see how pretty you are on the inside, little boy!" she sneered as she shoved the guitar forward.

"Nnnnaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

Light swarmed around the both of them as Dizzy screamed. The mediocre-sized orbs charged toward I-no, sending her on a path of pain that never seemed to stop. Her skin seared, leaving blackened markings as the attack continued.

"N—wha—AHHHH!!!" she screamed as her body was consumed entirely by the white mass. Afterward, only a guitar pick left evidence of her existence. Dizzy panted as she managed to stand on her feet again.

"Bridget…are you okay?" she asked. Nothing came from the normally open boy. He lay in a crumpled form on the ground, blood beginning to pool around him.

"…Bridget..?" Dizzy again whispered, slowly approaching the boy. No response still. Kneeling at the side of the boy's body, Dizzy, rested her hands over those of Bridget's, and bit her lower lip.

"Bridge….Bridget…..what were you thinking…….?" She said slowly, tears rolling down her cheeks as she did so. Necro! Necro brought Zato to life!!! He could do the same for Bridget!

Necro……Necro, please help us! Bridget is dead! You can't let this happen! Necro, please!!

The dark entity from with said nothing in return. Dizzy was beginning to cry even more.

Necro, please! I don't want him to be like this! He's my friend! Please be considerate, Necro!!

What do I have to gain from this?

A response! Dizzy looked at Bridget's body once more…what could Necro want from a boy as innocent as this one?

He isn't evil…he is pure and innocent! He never wanted to die! He wanted to protect everyone, Necro! Please, do something!

I have nothing to gain…

Dizzy was becoming angry now. Her face pinked with her growing fury as she suddenly voiced her thoughts in a screaming madness.

"Necro! I will destroy myself if it will destroy you! You selfish demon! Save Bridget! PLEASE! Please….save him…" she cried, weeping over the boy's body.

"What happened?" May asked as she approached them, but soon gasped at the sight of Bridget. Johnny, following behind, stopped as well.

"Bridge.." he whispered faintly. May began to cry now as well.

"Johnny, why wouldn't he listen!! Why'd he have to try and fight her?! He didn't have to!" May sobbed. Johnny held her close as he watched Dizzy weep over the body of Bridget as well. Finally, a twinkle of light sparked on one of the tips of Dizzy's wings…the…better half. The visage of a saddened woman appeared by Dizzy's side, and looked over the situation. Fading away gently afterward, Dizzy could feel the two entities inside of her feuding.

Necro, you got what you wanted the first time! Grant her this one wish! You receive power from her to revive in the process—why should a price matter to you during a crucial situation as this?

I need the negative energy to revive a soul…I'm nearly depleted fully right now.

Then I will give more of my own power!!

….Very well, if it will quiet you…

Dizzy gasped as the winds began to pick up violently from every direction as it had before…but…more violently. She could feel power…..more of it, rather….being drained from her better entity. As the winds receded, the blood around Bridget remained. May blinked a few times.

"What happened?" she asked. Dizzy looked at Bridget's still unmoving body.

"I…I don't know…" she said honestly.

"Why is….everyone sad? Bridget's here…everyone should smile…" Bridget said weakly before coughing. May gasped before hugging Bridget tightly.

"YOU'RE BACK!!!" she yelped.

"I am? From what?" Bridget asked, then looked down at the pool of blood around him, and then at his bloodstained clothing.

"Aaah! Why am I bloody?! What happened?! Did we win!?!" he asked, a bit scared. Johnny smiled as he looked at Dizzy.

"You're fine, kid…you just kicked I-no's ass so much, that you passed out and it was so funny that it made us cry. That's probably her blood, anyway," he said, grinning. May looked at Johnny, but then understood, and smiled broadly.

"Yeah!" she said. Bridget began to giggle and hopped to his feet, tackling Johnny yet again and yipping happily.

"See! I told you!"

"..Ah! Heh…right, kid. You told me.." Johnny said with a smirk, giving up on his rule concerning being tackled by the cheerful boy. Dizzy smiled, wiping away her tears in the process, and sighed.

Thank you, Necro…

-

Sharon bit her lower lip as she waited for her husband within his office chair. It had been far too long! He never took this much time before. Just as she was building up the nerve to search for him herself, a gruff voice pierced the silence within her husband's office.

"Sharon, my dear…I have terrible news."

"Slayer!" Sharon yelped as she quickly rose from his chair, and rushed to greet him. Slayer met her with a calm, gentle hug before slowly striding towards his desk, and around to his office chair. Once seated comfortably, he sighed, looking up at Sharon, who had followed and was standing in front of him, waiting silently to hear whatever terrible news that there was to bear.

"Sharon…my dear….I'm afraid that we will have to leave this guild for a time," he said weakly. Sharon blinked a few times.

"What? Why?" she asked. Slayer turned his head elsewhere a moment before he could speak.

"Venom…has revived Zato…and they are overthrowing me…or…already have overthrown me," he murmured. Sharon gasped, and slowly began to become angry.

"Why! You were like their father in this guild! And—wait—Zato? I thought Venom killed him?" she said, a bit confused. Slayer nodded in agreement.

"He did. And Millia Rage, too. But then, why is Zato alive and not Millia? Something is amiss…and I suspect that Venom has been planning to do this all along…and has been deceiving me his entire time!" he quickly deduced, slamming his fist down upon the arm of the chair. "Damn him!" he cursed. Sharon was still wondering about the possibility of Zato's being revived.

"My love…what if…what if you allowed me to research the possibilities of Zato's being risen from the dead? Maybe then…we could straighten this all out…and discover Venom's true motives for resurrecting him.." she said, looking her husband in the eye. Slayer, in turn, nodded once more.

"Granted…just…be careful Sharon. There are Gears almost everywhere these days," he said with a sigh. Sharon smiled.

"I'll be fine," she said.

-

Testament stood silently out on the edge of a cliff, watching the storm clouds billow over portions of the living forest so far away from the decadent one that he'd come to call home. The raven was perched on the tip of his red scythe, which served as a staff of sorts at the moment. Closing his eyes, Testament began to reflect on his life as a Gear…the horrors of it all. This…was what he'd become…an abomination. Sighing, he opened them once more, and turned around to head back into the forest. As he did so, his footsteps halted almost immediately. Sol was standing right in front of him. Testament said nothing, and proceeded to step around him. Sol blocked his path with the length of the fireseal.

"What's the rush?" Sol asked, his eyes flickering from Testament to the raven momentarily. Testament sighed in annoyance, and finally took a single step backward.

"I have other methods of exit, mind you," was his reply. Sol smirked.

"Yeah, I know. But you're not going anywhere anyway," Sol said, chuckling. Testament's eyes narrowed.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Humans are beyond this cliff. If you go down there, you know you'll end up killing over half of them. Dizzy would never be able to forgive you for that. And, you know if you pass me, I'll just hunt you down. So why're you so desperate to get away from me?" Sol asked. Testament exhaled extravagantly, then met Sol's slightly inquisitive glare with a cruel one of his own.

"…You do not know what it is you are seeking….your relationship with Ky Kiske is so twisted within your mind, that you cannot bear it, and you need another to accompany you while you sort such things. Your heart is being thrown at anything that pleases your eyes…but in truth, it is only lust," Testament said bluntly before gripping his scythe.

"You are blocking my path. I advise that you move."

Sol did not budge. Instead, he returned the fireseal to his side and smirked.

"You really think that's why I'm after you, mm?" Sol asked. Testament watched in slight confusion as Sol now began to laugh.

"What amuses you so?" he asked, finally. Sol contained himself before responding.

"You. You and your thinking that I just need a good lay and I'm on my way," he chuckled. "But that's not it at all….! Ha ha ha ! Has it ever occurred to you that I just might want to end a relationship with Ky because I just was fucking miserable!?" Sol continued. Testament was speechless a moment, then shook his head some.

"Pitiful…" he muttered. Sol smirked, hearing that word.

"Yeah…it's pitiful that I stayed that long. You know, 'til I came across you, Ky used to amuse me a lot…yeah, it was fun…but then I realized that he was getting too fuckin' close. I mean, I know there's some stuff you just expect in a relationship, but—," Sol began, but was interrupted by Testament.

"Because you feel like you're closed in and you can't breathe. Like you're being suffocated and not even the one you once thought you cared for can get you out. Like..you're alone and nothing can save you from your impending insanity and lifetime of torment."

Sol was silent a moment, then spoke.

"Yeah…like that…how'd you know?" he asked. Testament stepped around Sol, and this time, Sol didn't stop him.

"Because I felt the same way once upon a time…"

Sol spoke now, loud enough so that Testament could hear him.

"And that's why I chose you over him…because we're the same…and different at the same time. And you know it. You know there are things about the both of us that we only know about each other…but only things we can understand about the other and not ourselves, Testament."

Testament said nothing and continued on. Sol was completely right. And that was why he continued on. However, as he did, a few more words from Sol followed him.

"Think about it, Testament. When you decide, I'll find you. I always do."

-End Ch 4-