…yeah…so…yeah …anyway…

Disclaimer – Friends…Romans…lend me your ears….I don't own Chrono Cross. Remember that.

*Insert Text here* - Memories

Insert Text here - Voices

(Insert text here) –Thought

~*~ Here ~*~  - Dream

~~~

Chapter 14 – Demi Human Confusion

~~~

            Karsh trudged out into the hallway, a dissatisfied look upon his face. For the past day him and his Devas had been serving less as Elite Dragoons and more like Viper's Servants. They'd been lured into helping organize this ball [Which the head Deva thought was a complete waste of time] that was to happen and had spent most of their waking hours doing things Karsh never thought of himself doing. It was demeaning and he didn't like it.

            He'd managed to slip away for a rest from the terror and was about to make a break for it when he felt a light tug on his pants. Grunting slightly he looked down to see Phoenix looking up at him curiously.

            "Hiya Mistew Karwsh." She said quietly while eyeing him cutely. "What awe yew doing?"

            "Escaping."

            "From what?"

            "Hanging 'Decorations' and a picky orcestra." He cringed at the thought of the snot-nosed conductor.

            "Oh." She paused for a moment and let her eyes wander slightly before looking back at him. "Have you seen Unca Gwenn?"

            Karsh raised and eye brow. "Uncle?" He snicked. "Yeah he's outside in the back kid."

            Phoenix smiled happily and hugged his leg before running off  "Thank yew Mistew Karwsh!"

            The Deva blinked. The kid had only been around what? 2, 3 days now? And already she knew everyone and everyone knew her. Hell, Karsh would bet that she'd been one of the only reasons this place hadn't been overwhelmingly depressed. She talked to all the wounded, the dragoons, himself, even General Viper and Zoah. Still through all those people she'd grown attached to Glenn and to hell if Karsh could figure out why.

 Life was confusing right now. He desided that all else could wait as he walked off to the mess hall to find himself something nice and 'relaxing' to drink.

                                    *                      ~                      *                      ~                      *

            Glenn brought his sword up to block another directed for his head. The blow wasn't particularly strong though it was enough for the Deva to bend backwards slightly to cushion the blow. He looked over at the other Dragoon before smiling and helping the heaving boy to his feet.

            "How old are you?"

            "Sev-" The Dragoon trainee gasped for air. "Seventeen."

            "Seventeen?" Glenn helped the boy to the side. "Not bad. Keep at it."

            "Y-yes sir!"

            He left the boy on the ground and walked back to the center of the area, which swarms of Dragoon Privates and trainees were gathered around. The Deva held the Einlanzer loosely as he addressed the entire flock of them. "As you saw, strength isn't the deciding factor of a battle. Speed, wits, cunning, and yes even strength are all to be used wisely. Tactics are what get us through battles." He paused for effect while wondering how the hell Karsh and Viper had talked him into this. "Tactics and teamwork. If you can't grasp those; you may as well fall over dead when the battle begins." Glenn looked around, making sure this had sunk into every single one of their minds. "Secondly, your weapon is your best friend. Treasure it as you would a brother or sister, but if lost in the heat of battle, for god sakes don't run around trying to find it. Pick up another and go from where you left off."

            "Sir Glenn, Sir, wouldn't that be like tossing away your brother or sister?"

            "Pretend you found out they were adopted and were trying to kill everything while you sleep." Glenn received a low chuckle from this comment.

            "T'isn't that blasphemous Sir Gleen? Even if one's brot'er 'n' sister er adopted?"

            Glenn turned around to watch Strider slowly walk towards him; his blacken fur and orangish eyes holding every sense of merriment the young Demi human detained within his tall well built body. The Deva had to admit that Strider was a pleasant person to be around even though he could be utterly confusing and impossibly simple minded.

            "Possibly, but not in this case." Glenn turned to face the demi human. "What brings you here?"

            Strider adjusted his sleeveless black vest, which was unbuttoned to reveal the dual belts of throwing knives criss-crossing over his furred chest. A belt sported a short sword and held up baggy maroon pants that stopped at low ankle, revealing clawed feet. He walk within a foot or two of Glenn then stopped.

            Now Glenn was curious. Most high-ranking officers avoided such training sessions due to the usual lack of confrontation, and Strider was a Sergeant.

            "Nuttin' Sir Gleen," The canine demi-human grinned, flashing sharp ivory teeth pleasantly, "Jus' T'inkin' that maybe you an' me could show these kiddies some 'citement. Eh?"

            Glenn raised a brow. He looked as though he were about to say something before a bold Private called out. "Strider and Glenn? That's something I wanna see!" The shout caused a few more to call out in agreement and soon the entire area was filled with chants and such.

            "Glenn could kick Strider's ass anytime, anywhere!"

            "Nu-uh, Strider could knock down Glenn with his hands tied behind his back and blind folded!"

            The Deva and Sergeant looked at each other a moment before looking at the ring of Dragoons. "'ey, 'ey settle down! T'was a meer suggestion!" No response was received. "'ey! SHADDAP!" Instantly the area was silent as they all looked at Strider wide eyed. The scene indeed resembled a Kindergarten class that had just finished there lunch and were now trying to be settled in for a nap.

            "Sheesh." He turned back to Glenn. "'ow 'bout it then?"

            "I don't see a proble-"The young soldier was cut off mid-sentence as Striders sword came at his head, hardly giving the Deva enough time to bring his Einlanzer up to block it. He glared at the Sergeant, "Are you crazy!? If I were anyone else you'd have killed me!"

            "Well ya aren't 'nyone else, 're ye?" Strider drew his sword back as he hopped slightly off to Glenn's unguarded side. Once there, he unleashed an all out offensive on the younger Soldier and was quiet surprise when the first blow was blocked and he was sent sprawling sideways to avoid a swipe. "'ey, not bad. Din't 'xpect that."

            Glenn said nothing and dropped into a neutral stance, equal in both offense and defense. He'd never seen Strider fight directly, but if what he heard was true he was in for a hell of a fight.

            For a moment the two just circled each other, vaguely aware of the sounds and calls from their audience. Glenn watched his opponent carefully, with an attentive stare, taking every move the demi-human made. Suddenly Strider flashed him a toothy grin before shooting forward and swinging his sword for Glenn's neck. An Einlanzer blocked it high, but seconds later Glenn felt a sharp pain shoot through his chest as Striders clawed foot connected with his armor. As he flew backward he notice the receding foot was glowing a dull yellow, hardly noticeable in the sun's light.

            That's when Glenn remembered. Strider was yellow innate, and the bastard had just used an Elemental Technique in a Physical attack Session.

            The Deva half twisted in the air and brought his shoulder down to meet the ground head on causing the small flipping motion he desired. He broke into a roll and gripped his feet before springing back up to a standing position, glaring at Strider in annoyance.

            "Sorry Sir Gleen, I slipped."

            Glenn gave him a dissatisfied look and began towards him. Suddenly he broke into a run and made a skillful swipe at his opponents chest which was blocked, sending them both into a stalemate, each pushing on there swords with formidable strength. They grunted in effort before pushing one another away and swinging swiftly as fast as possible at the other.

The sound of steel clashing steel was unmistaken able and rang out loudly through the open area. All the Dragoons continued to hoot and holler, roaring loudly in suspense each time the weapons connected with one another. Both higher-ranking officers skidded across the ground expertly, shuffling, parrying and dodging with incredible speed as they clashed weapons.

A sudden yell was heard above all else. "Hey there's a Kid near 'em!!!"

Glenn smashed Striders sword away, temporarily sending the demi human off balance before looking about trying to find the reason for the yell. His horrors were confirmed as Phoenix came bounding past Strider and up to him. She smiled pleasantly up at him and he just stared at her a moment before the shuffling of feet caught his attention. Strider had recovered from the little stumble and was already lunging back at Glenn. The problem was, Strider's head was still half turned to other way; he hadn't seen Phoenix.

The next few seconds were a slow blur of instincts for Glenn as he grabbed the Sergeant's sword, halting it jerkily from its powerful sideways swipe. When he felt the weapon gripped firmly in his hand Glenn jumped up and drove both feet to kick Strider squarely in the chest, driving him backwards and the sword from it's grip in the Deva's hand. Both landed with a square thud at almost the exact same moment on the ground, kicking up dust as they did.

The area was utterly silent except for the sounds of Glenn bringing himself to a kneeling position and looking at the completely shocked child. "Are you alright?" He said, not sure whether to be angry at the child or relieved she was safe.

Phoenix nodded with wide-eyed and drew closer to Glenn before whispering "C-can…can we go get Wisa now…?"

The Deva looked at the young child ruefully and picked her up. He turned and looked at Strider who was laughing loudly as he got to his feet.

"'oly Shit! Nice kick Sir Gleen!" He brushed himself off. "I gotta little carried 'away there. M'pologies!. T'is the lil' tike ok?"

"She fine." Glenn replied aridly, "I have something I need to do. Take over the class would you Strider?" With that Glenn began to walk away.

Strider blinked "Take care of w'at?"

The Deva didn't reply just kept walking. He looked at Phoenix and sighed inwardly. (Well it's now or never) He thought as they entered the halls of Viper Manor. He hoped this wouldn't be too hard for the little girl but he knew it was probably going to be devastating. He remembered just how hard it was on him when Dario died…he doubted this would be any different, if not worse.

            *                      ~                      *                      ~                      *

After being brought aboard the ship, Serge and Kidd found themselves ushered below deck to a cabin where Norris had excused himself with the promise of returning as soon as possible. The two now found themselves lounging around, bathed in the tranquil sounds of the boat.

Kidd looked around the Cabin. There wasn't really much to look at, a desk and 2 or 3 small tables sporting maps were shoved against one wall, books and military terrain maps cluttered neatly against another. She herself sat on a dull bench that was positioned against one of the uncluttered walls by a table with two other chairs and another bench situated around it. There wasn't much else to look at so she found her gaze wandering to the village boy that was leaned against the wall.

The Radical Dreamer admitted fully she liked Serge. Well, ok maybe not so fully, and despite the fact she had tried desperately to push her thoughts of him from her mind, it never worked. Ever since Kidd had seen Lucca's orphanage burn down she had valued and depended upon her independence and she feared if she got to close to Serge she would lose that independence.

(Then why didn't I push him away?) She thought to herself as she looked at his muscular yet modest body bathed in the sunlight, which filtered through a lone porthole looming over the desk. Because, in that heated moment when she felt his hot breath mixed with the warm sun on her face, when their lips brushed lightly together, in that moment she couldn't pull away. Even if her mind had screamed at her to push him away, to reject him, her body and her soul never would have listened.

And for that Kidd cursed herself.

Torn between the two emotions she felt as though she could just scream. Scream at Serge, scream at damn near everything. Despite this need she didn't follow through with it, just shook her head in frustration.

"Head hurt?"

She looked up to find Serge looking at her. A low blush crept into her cheeks. Had he been aware of her behavior the entire time? "Uhh, no mate just mullin' some things over." He nodded to her then turned away again. Only then did she realize the tension between them and found it unnervingly unbearable.

"Hey Mate, I'm sorry." He gave her a confused looked causing her to sigh. "bout the boat."

"Really?" Serge turned his head away to look out the porthole. "You shouldn't be…"

"I-" At that exact moment Norris came through the door, cutting Kidd off mid-sentence. Not noticing the dull look she gave him, the Blackwind Captain sat himself down in one of the chairs.

"Sorry to keep you both waiting." He said pleasantly before inviting Serge to sit down. His offer was declined quietly however. "Alright then. Still the strong silent type I see. Anyway I suppose you would like to know why the Porre Military is in El Nido?"

Serge nodded before Kidd replied, "If ya wouldn't mind, Mate."

Norris nodded. "Less then a year ago, The Leaders of Porre and General Viper signed a Peace treaty stating each would offer the other military support when need and in exchange the two would leave each other alone. When Termina was attacked Viper sent a messenger to Porre."

"How'd ya git here so fast?"

"This ship was on a return trip from a research expedition investigating the strong currents in the straight between El Nido and Zenon. The messenger caught us just before we left this side of the straight and told us General Viper's concerns and what had happened to Termina. Since we are fully equipped for what he expected we sent the research team to Porre with the Messenger and came here."

Serge looked at the Blackwind Captain "Why here?"

"Viper was afraid if Termina was attacked, everywhere else would be as well." Norris adjusted his position on the bench slightly as he continued. "I'm afraid I believe he was right. Though it's the most peculiar thing in Guldove."

"What's happenin' in Guldove, Mate?"

Norris brushed a few strands of golden hair from his face as he looked thoughtfully at the table. "Well nothing is really happening. Everything is normal except…"

"Except what."

"Except…they're all gone."

"What?!"

The Captain looked from the table up to Serge and Kidd. "I don't mean dead. I mean they have complete vanished. There isn't a trace of a single creature having lived in Guldove for at least a week."

"They couldn'ta completely Vanished Mate." Kidd reasoned, "They musta just gone somewhere er something like that."

The three looked at each other before stating in unison "Marbule."

~~~

Yeah…so…umm…There's Chapter 14 C'ya