Note: This is actually the proof read version, unlike the one originally posted, which had spelling mistakes in it. Actually, if you see any spelling mistakes, please email me at quinn_dexter@hotmail.com and let me know.  The reason why my pseudonym is Nights Mistress is that I don't go to sleep until about 2am and the later it gets, the worse my spelling is.

Once clear of the village, Yuri placed Alec gently on the ground and reverted to his normal appearance. Ignoring complaints from Death Emperor, he cocked his head quizzically at Alec and raised his eyebrow. Alec stared back with wide blue eyes, then lowered his gaze toward his feet.

"So," Yuri said finally, drawing out his words. "Mind telling me what all that was about?" he asked, gesturing toward the village. "Cause I just risked my ass saving you, and I'd like to know what the hell happened!" Startled, Alec's head shot up.

"You know how every person is sensitive to a certain class of magic, right?" Alec asked softly. Yuri nodded, curious as to what this had to do with anything.  "You may also know that some monsters can have no predisposition for any class," Alec continued.

"That's pretty rare though. Generally monsters are just crap at casting magic," Death Emperor commented. Yuri imagined slapping Death Emperor around the back of the head. It was a pity that his imaginings couldn't be an actuality. It would have made life much easier.

"What you might not know is that occasionally, a person is born with a gift for all classes. Like me." Alec's voice was barely louder then a whisper.

"That's very rare," Death Emperor whispered in the back of Yuri's mind. "I've only ever heard of one other case, and she went mad. Although," Death Emperor mused. "She had the Demon Eyes as well."

"Thankfully, I don't have the Demon Eyes, like that poor girl from the Middle Ages," Alec continued, unknowingly answering Death Emperor.

"But, how do you know?" Yuri demanded. "I don't know what class I am, so how do you?"

"You're darkness. Like it was hard to work out. You're a harmonixer from the Hyuga line, what else could you be?" Death Emperor replied dryly. Yuri blinked at that piece of information and resolved to find out more about that later.

"You're darkness," Alec said slowly. "Except, I've seen other Darkness-classed, and you're different. More," Alec paused as he considered. "It's like they're a shallow puddle of darkness, and you're an ocean of infinite, inky depths."

"A rather flowery way of saying it," Death Emperor commented. "But yes, you are different from other darkness-classed. The world was very lucky that Ben Hyuga was a harmonixer and the second last of his line."

"Huh?" Yuri asked. Alec looked at him strangely. "Sorry," Yuri said sheepishly. "I was listening, honest!"

"Who do you talk to?" Alec asked, tone serious. "I know that you're not insane…"

"Yet. I'm working on it," Death Emperor interrupted cheerily.

"And that thing you turned into before, while not a demon, certainly wasn't human. And what have you seen, to make you scream in your sleep?" It was Yuri's turn to be reluctant to tell his story.

"I'm a harmonixer," Yuri said finally, staring past Alec's shoulder into the horizon. He waited for the inevitable gasp of horror and disgust. When it didn't come, Yuri looked down at Alec's calm face. "That means that I can capture souls and turn myself into demons," he said harshly. Alec's expression didn't change. "What don't you understand? I'm a monster!"

"I know what a Harmonixer is," Alec said softly. "That doesn't make you a monster." Yuri raised an incredulous eyebrow but remained silent.

"Will you stop with all the self-pity!" Death Emperor broke in angrily. "It's getting really tedious."

"Yes mum," Yuri replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Alec was trying unsuccessfully to stifle his giggles. He yawned and blinked in confusion.

"Huh? It's the middle of the afternoon," he said aloud. Yuri grinned.

"Let me guess, they healed you? I'd say that they used your magic to do it too, as I doubt that there was another light-classed in the village. Sometimes I admire the ingenuity of the Church. Then I come to my senses and decide that they are corrupt, money hungry leeches," Yuri said dryly.  Alec responded with another yawn.

"And to make matters worse, I don't have any Mana Roots. Sorry Alec, you're going to have to sleep it off," Yuri continued. Alec leaned backward onto the ground and closed his eyes. Yuri waited for a few minutes.

"Alec? Are you asleep?" Alec didn't answer. Taking this as an indication that Alec was asleep, Yuri sat down and leant against a tree stump, legs stretched in front of him.

"Death Emperor? I think we need to have a talk," he said softly.

"Do I get a choice in the matter?"  Death Emperor replied.

"No. What did you mean, that the world was lucky that my father was a Harmonixer?" Yuri said bluntly. He was in no mood to use tact. That was for people who had had much more sleep and patience then he had.

"Your mother was light-class, your father was darkness-class. Ever asked Alec what class his parents were? Or if he remembers them?"

"What?" Yuri blurted aloud. He surreptitiously stole a look at Alec's sleeping form. He eyed him warily and flinched when he moved. He grinned at his own stupidity when Alec shifted into a more comfortable position and continued snoring quietly.

"Alec is a Chimera-class because his parents were light and darkness. Any child born from that union is either sensitive to all magic or resistant to all." Death Emperor spoke slowly and distinctly, as if speaking to a small or mentally backward child.

"What's so bad about that?" Yuri asked, shrugging. Personally, he saw no problem with either being able to cast every magic or being resistant to magic. It seemed like a perfect skill for a monster hunter to possess, and he said so. Death Emperor sighed.

"If you're sensitive to all, you have no resistance to the opposing class. In other words, if magic is cast on you, it's effects are magnified. If you're sensitive to none, then healing and support magic have no effect on you."  Yuri imagined Death Emperor rolling his eyes as he said that. It seemed the type of thing that he would do.

"'Kay, I can see why that would be bad. Why aren't I one of them?" Yuri asked in curiosity.

"Being a harmonixer means that any child you have will be darkness-classed, without exception. Anyway, I don't think that the world could cope with two Chimera-classed. It's probably the sign of the Apocalypse or something."

"The what?" Yuri asked in confusion.

"Your education has been lacking. The Apocalypse is the end of the world." Yuri could hear Death Emperor trying to speak through his stifled laughter and tried very hard to repress an urge of irritation.

"Right. I take it that's bad," Yuri asked ingenuously, winsome smile playing on his lips. It really was a pity that Death Emperor didn't live somewhere other then Yuri's head, so he could see little things like that. Otherwise they were wasted, which is a real pity, as Yuri was getting to be very good at them.

"You could say that. Then again, you could say that the Black Plague was just a little inconvenience. It all depends on perspective," Death Emperor replied sarcastically. He continued to mutter unintelligibly, generally ranting about an "idiot boy" and "what Gods did I piss off to get lumbered with this deficient?"

"Thanks for that. It's nice to know that if my self-confidence ever gets too great, you'll cut it down to size," Yuri replied, trying to sound serious. Instead he just sounded flat, but it was worth a try and he should be commended.

"All in the job description. It's a dirty job and I get to do it," Death Emperor replied, with more glee then an ex-God should have. Yuri considered pointing this fact out to Death Emperor, but decided against it. He was enjoying the break from dispossessed souls trying to drive him insane. It was getting a bit repetitive really.

"Coincidently, you might like to take a nap as well. I can't absorb too much more of the fatigue poisons," Death Emperor said suddenly.

"You can do that?" Yuri asked in surprise.

"Not for much longer. In fact, you might want to lie down," Death Emperor said hurriedly. "I'll explain later." Yuri opened his mouth to complain, but his mouth wouldn't work. He tried to force his eyes wide open, but a black abyss yawned under his feet, and he tumbled into the darkness into unconsciousness.

A pair of hands reached out toward him. Slender, delicate hands with tapered fingers and neat fingernails, a woman's hands. Yuri clasped them in his larger hands, his broken fingernails contrasting with the manicured ones, although both sets of hands shared the same delicate bone structure. Yuri looked up the arm and saw the face of his mother.

"Mum?" he whispered in shock, eyes wide. The woman's face twisted in disgust and she pulled her hands away.

"And who are you, to be calling me your mother?" she asked imperiously. Yuri looked at her, confusion and hurt in his eyes.

"I'm your son. Don't you remember me?" he asked, his voice incredibly fragile. She stepped backward.

"You are not my son. You're nothing more than a monster," she said in disgust. She turned away from him and disappeared into the darkness. Yuri stared after her, looking nothing more than a lost child with no hope of returning home.

"Mum?" he asked softly. A malicious laugh echoed around him, and Yuri spun around desperately, searching for the voice.

"Yuri!"

Yuri's eyes shot open and grabbed his attacker with one hand as he reached for their throat with the other. Alec made a strangled noise, and Yuri quickly let him go with a muttered apology. Alec stared at him, rubbing his throat with one hand.

"Right, that's the last time I wake you out of a nightmare," Alec rasped. He moved his hands in an intricate sequence of gestures. A white glow suffused his body then died away.

"I was wondering," Alec asked hesitantly, voice less strained. "If I could travel with you. Just a little way! I've got relatives in another village south of here."

"No," Death Emperor replied promptly. "I have enough to worry about with you, let alone a chimera class who'll probably die before he reaches twenty anyway considering his track record."

"Sure!" Yuri replied. Death Emperor spluttered. Yuri grinned and Alec resigned himself to a long trip of hearing one side of a conversation.

Authors Note: Kay, I know it's short. Actually, I thought this chapter was already up, so I spent weeks looking mournfully at my account wondering where my reviews were. Don't you just love it when you forget to post the chapter?

Next chapter; Death Emperor and Yuri shall snipe some more (cause it's just so fun to write), the three will walk a lot and Alec decides that being a chimera class isn't all that bad.

On an unrelated note, I've realised that I haven't put any disclaimers for my stories. Here's my general one:

I do not own anything to do with Shadow Hearts. Nor do I want to. I want a tank. Then I don't have to worry about giving way or parking. And I'd like to see the driving examiner's face when I rock up to the exam in a tank. However, I do own the personality possessed by Death Emperor. He is mine.

Oh yes, before I forget. I actually looked at the Judgement Ring today. Guess what? Greyfriars (or whatever, I'm writing this under sleep deprivation) was right, the names of her characters are there. Just call me a natural blonde.

Nights Mistress J

Aenea says "I finally got a job!  I'm a beta reader!  YAY!!!!!!!!!!  Someone loves me!!!!!!!  I'm…freaking everyone out, so I'll shut up now…(shamelessly plugs her stories) *grin*"

I have finally wrestled the keyboard from Aenea (it took a long time cause I have the flu and am so far out of it that it's not funny - well, not for me anyway).