Disclaimer: If you recognize something in this fic, then it probably belongs to someone else. To be more specific- I don't own Playstation, LoK, or anything in them. Oh, and I got the exact quotes from BO1 at nosgoth.net in the Blood Omen Dialogue section. *bows to Wolf Raziel* Zofie Audron alone, is my brain child. I, of course, belong to myself. ^_^

Author's Notes: If you read- review! ^_^ ***Spoilers of the LoK games (duh!)***

Okay, going in depth with the reviews here;

Thank you;

Bahumut- Thanks for sticking with me- I love you too man!!!!!! *grins*

DHA- *Hugs DHA* Thankyouthankyou! You've given me funny reviews and good inspiration!

Dragonclaw- *hugs Dragonclaw* Thank you *grins* I'm working on it!

Expert Predator- Um... you're a little scary- but anything that gets me to write more is good! *lmao*

Honlei of the Inferno- *blushes* Awww, dangit! I just hope I can keep it up! Thank you.

Nemi- Again- thank you for reminding me to dis BO2 Kain! I too am a Janos fan, *grins* as well as others!

Psi Yamaneko- *lol* *High-fives the Mobius fan* Like I said- I love to hate him! LOVE to hate him! *snickers*

Edward, Ghost, Haruka-Chan, Kiwi, Ksher, Krow Love, Miss Sedusa, Marie, Seishin, Venris13 - *grins* Thank you all soooooo much for your support and for asking me for more!

Thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks!

Wow... it seems like I never get away from the drama. *lol* This chapter delves into a little bit of angst, but that's okay, cause I won't do it very often!

Suspicions of Insanity

"Question-" Raziel put in suddenly, "why isn't the fledgling Kain here?"

"Why should he be?" Kain asked derisively. "I'm here. That's more than enough."

"Given a choice, which would you rather have?" Syvia asked, slightly annoyed. Without hesitation Raziel, Mobius and Mortanius answered, "The fledgling."

"Why?"

"He was still young enough to be deluded then," Mobius sighed, remembering.

"Exactly," Mortanius agreed.

"Were he a fledgling, I would be able to kill him," Raziel said shrugging.

"What makes you so sure?" Kain asked with a dangerous look.

"You could kill him now if you'd get off your arse and make an effort," Mobius was saying acidly. Raziel's arm began to glow softly, calling up the wraith blade as he glared at the other two on the loveseat.

"Hey- hey guys-" Syvia put in, trying to diffuse the situation. "You know- um..." her voice grew a little more frantic, seeing they were about to exchange blows. "Fighting never really solves anything!" she cried lamely. They all froze and looked at her.

Mortanius was too apathetic to laugh- the rest, with the exception of Zofia and Janos, who were actually applauding her, doubled over, crying with mirth. Syvia's cheeks burned.

Well, she thought, there isn't much chance of me saying anything more stupid than that tonight. The girl mumbled something about getting some popcorn and left the room. When she got out of sight, she found that they'd actually been trying to spare her feelings, because they got louder. Loud enough that she could hear everything in the game room from the kitchen.

"Damnit," she murmured, pulling out a bag of microwave popcorn. "What the hell is this anyway? There have to be lots of LoK fans in the US... no the world, who are a hell of a lot more hardcore than I am." She pulled the plastic sleeve off the bag, punched the microwave button, threw the bag in leaned her head on the machine. "Why me?" she asked tiredly.

"You did stop them from fighting."

Syvia jumped and turned. "Don't do that!" she cried at Zofia.

The Ancient smiled slightly. "I am sorry. But the fact remains- you kept them from fighting. Things are not all that bad."

Syvia laughed harshly. "They can always get worse," the girl replied. Zofia shook her head gently as the girl tapped a few buttons on the microwave.

"What an optimist you are," she chuckled.

"No, I'm a realist," Syvia smirked. Then Kain appeared in the doorway behind Zofia.

"You wouldn't happen to have any blood in your icebox, would you?" he smirked, knowing the answer. Syvia looked at Zofia as if to say, 'didn't I tell you?' before giving Kain an icy glare.

"No, there isn't any in the 'icebox' and there are no donors in this house," Syvia told him sternly.

"Pity," Kain said, pouting slightly. He walked to her backdoor, smiling. "Well then, I'll just have to pop over to the neighbors, won't I?" Syvia's eyes widened, her mouth dropped open, and she raised a finger at the vampire. Had she actually said anything, she might have been able to stop him, but she just stared, dumbfounded as Kain opened her backdoor and walked out into the night.

Zofia watched, and nibbled her lower lip. She looked back at Syvia. "To quote my father- 'Oh dear'," she said.

Syvia's mouth shut with a snap. "To quote you- 'This scenario is a bit more dire than 'Oh dear'." Then she thought about it more. "Well... it's not as if I actually like the neighbors. Maybe he'll make a snack of their dog," she said dully.

"Syvia," the Ancient frowned reproachfully at her.

"Zofie- you shouldn't be here," Syvia said, almost pleadingly. "None of you should be here! My parents are asleep upstairs. It's three in the morning and I have classes tomorrow," the microwave beeped and Syvia reached reflexively for the 'open' button.

"I've got a group of videogame characters in my game room, one of which," she said, taking out the popcorn, "is, at this very moment, going next door to drink one of my neighbors' blood. I think I'm going insane right now," she said, shooting Zofia a heated glare. "So forgive me my odd, possibly heartless sounding comments."

Syvia held the bag out in front of her and opened it. Steam rose into the air, and a face appeared in it.

"You are not going crazy," it said. Syvia screamed and jumped back. Popcorn went everywhere as she collided with Zofia and the two of them went down in a heap of tangled limbs and black feathers.

The Nosgothian men (and assorted other species) appeared in the doorway, asking what was the matter. The girls had both fallen on their backs, Syvia lying full on one of Zofia's black wings. The girl attempted to get up, apologizing profusely, but Zofia grabbed her arms, holding her still.

"I do not think I have broken anything- but if you move, that could change," the Ancient said carefully. Syvia looked around and gulped. They were wedged between the table and the refrigerator, Zofia's back and her right wing were pressed against the kitchen table, her right wing was extended on the floor, pinned by their combined weight.

"Alright, stay still, both of you," Raziel said. He leapt easily over the table, leaned down and pulled Syvia to her feet. The girl backed away, finally noticing the one who had startled her.

"I am very sorry," Ariel murmured. Syvia stared wide-eyed at the specter as Janos lifted the kitchen table. Raziel took Zofia's hands, supporting the Ancient's weight as she re-folded her wings. Zofia stood up and Janos replaced the kitchen table. The human girl paid no attention; studying the former Pillar of Balance with an awe that held no small amount of fear.

Ariel's face was, in person, much more alarming and... upsetting, than anything the video graphics could produce. Half of the spirit's face was pale white bone. Skinless, clean, but the ragged tear between it and the human half of her face was anything but. There was blood and sinew visible between the covered part of her skull, and what covered it.

Syvia stared while a little corner of her brain was saying how rude she was being, and 'you'd have thought that the other characters would be worse to look at than poor Ariel.' The girl found herself answering that she couldn't help it. That the others looked either to alien, or were familiar enough, that she wasn't frightened by their appearances. But Ariel... her face was a mix of the acceptable and the unbearable. Half was completely human; the other was absolutely not.

Syvia's vision swam. "I guess Mortanius got to the Pillars," she mumbled. Then she fainted.

"Rebecca? Rebecca!" a voice was calling.

The girl who was also known as Syvia flinched and opened her eyes. She blinked several times and focused on the bleary-eyed face of her mother.

"Are you okay?" Her mother's expression was concerned, but also somewhat annoyed. Syvia put a hand to the back of her head, wincing.

"I think so," she murmured. The girl sat up gingerly; wincing again as her mother began to probe at the bump on the back of her head.

"What happened?" her mother asked. "We heard you scream and came down. The backdoor's open; there's popcorn all over the place-"

"The television's on," her father added from the doorway. The memory of Ariel's face and the videogame characters came back. Syvia looked into her mother's eyes, her shock-induced calm wearing off, and started to shake.

"What is it?" her mother said, more urgently this time. "What?"

"I-" Syvia began. She gulped in a breath and started to laugh shakily. "I thought I saw a ghost."

"You what?" her mother murmured.

Syvia nodded. "I was up, playing Blood Omen, I went to make some popcorn and I thought I saw a ghost."

"Rebecca." Syvia could tell her mother was trying to sound stern, but couldn't quite manage it in the face of her daughter's anxiety. "Why did you open the backdoor?"

"The garbage can was full..." Syvia whispered a quick lie. "I was going to take it out."

"It's three in the morning; don't you have class tomorrow?" her mother asked, her anger overtaking her concern in that moment. "Turn the game off and go to bed," she said tersely. She pulled Syvia to her feet and turned to shut the door.

Syvia walked nervously up to her father, afraid of what she'd see in the game room. He looked at her curiously, squinting in the light of the kitchen. Syvia turned and breathed a sigh of relief at the empty loveseat. She ran to the Playstation 2, pulled the game out and turned the system off.

"Get that in the morning," she heard her mother yawning. Syvia turned her TV off and walked back into the kitchen. Her father was propping a broom against the wall; the popcorn had been swept into a little circle in the center of the kitchen floor.

They stamped up the stairs, Syvia in the lead. The girl walked into her bedroom, pulled off her robe and slippers, got under her covers and eventually fell asleep.

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*grins* A brief respite ~_^ ... for Syvia, anyway. *lol, strikes pose* This is not the end!

Questions about 'Rebecca'? Okay. As I say in my bio, that is my name. *lol* What? You think my mother ever calls me 'Syvia'? But I have issues with giving any names other than mine out, so my mom and dad will remain 'mom' and 'dad'.