Disclaimer:  Do I wish I owned Shadow Hearts?  Yes.  Do I own it?  No.  End of story.

**

            "So, who's Lilia anyway?" Margarete asked.  Yuri started walking alongside her, slowly heading back to the park.

            "I met her on the job I took before you guys came," he said.  "She claimed to be an exorcist, but she's really a summoner."

            She stopped and looked at him.  "She wouldn't happen to have been the one summoning all those monsters, would she?"  When he nodded, she scowled.  "So what happened after she took them?"

            He shook his head.  "I fainted."

            "Oh…duh…that was a stupid question," Margarete said, hitting herself on the forehead to prove it.  "So, why do you think she took them?"

            Because I pissed Regina off…  Yuri stopped suddenly as he realized this.  Was everything that had happened today his fault?  After all, the only reason Lilia had come to take his fusion souls was because...If he had just sat down and listened to Regina last night, none of this would've happened…

But now, more than ever, he was sure that she was trouble…why else would she have gotten innocent people involved?

            "Yuri."

            He looked up from the bricks in the street to Margarete, who was concerned about how distant he was.  "You feeling alright, kiddo?  You're not going to faint again, are you?"

            Yuri shook his head.  "No…it's just…I'm used to there being something else up there," he said vaguely, pointing at his head.  He felt strange without the fusion souls, almost like he was in someone else's body.  It didn't help that he was being interrogated.

            "Yuri, you never had a brain," Margarete said teasingly.

            Yuri blinked twice, wondering what she was talking about, and then laughed as he got the joke.  "I left myself wide open on that one, didn't I?"

            "Yep," she said, glad he was laughing.  He was okay, then, at least.  "Let's hurry up.  Who knows what'll happen when Sharon wakes up."

            "Sharon?  What happened to her?" Yuri asked.

**

[A Child's Dream]

            There was something very heavy on top of her, weighing down on her.  She was able to breathe, but couldn't move very well.  She felt the thing on top of her; she felt a button and soft cloth, like a shirt.  A person was on top of her.

            She tried to move out from underneath, but it was very hard.  Her arms and legs seemed all odd, but she finally squirmed out into the daylight.

            The first thing she noticed was the man who had been lying on top of her as she turned around.  He was a big, strong-looking man, wearing a green shirt and pants.  He had blonde hair and brown eyes that stared ahead, unseeing.  His hair and shirt were covered with blood.  His face was captured in one last expression of utter horror.

            He was dead.

            She backed away in surprise, and her foot hit against something soft.  The girl looked down and saw an old woman, also dead.  Her expression was hard to make out because her face seemed--blurry?  Panicking, she looked up and around.

            There were stores all around her--the marketplace, she guessed.  At this time of day, there would usually be some people selling and buying their things.

            There were no shoppers around. But there were plenty of corpses, scattered throughout the street.  She shook her head in disbelief and then ran, wanting to get out of here, see something that was living.  A feeling of expectation led her to keep running in one direction, into a subdivision of houses.  As far as she could see there were bodies of all different ages and sizes, dead, strangely blurred together into a sea of flesh and blood.

            Then, a loud wail alerted her to a girl about her age.  She was sitting on the ground, her back turned, probably unaware of her.  Her form was vague and blurred, but it was easy to see that she was kneeling over another person.

            "Please, wake up…wake up!  Don't leave me!" she screamed, scaring the observer.  "I promise, I'll be good…I won't do anything bad, ever again!  Wake up, mommy, please!" and she broke down, sobbing over the undoubtedly dead mother.

            And then abruptly she stood and turned, aware of her watcher.  Her face and body were covered like all the others in blood-but it wasn't her own.  The haze that surrounded her face and the scenery cleared, and Sharon screamed, seeing her own face, colored crimson.

**

            After healing both back and stomach, Alice and Koudelka were ready to take on the daunting task of healing an arm.  This would be a lot easier if it had been a clean cut, Alice thought as Koudelka started, guiding the sinews of the muscle slowly back together, taking care that they were connected properly.  Like when Yuri's arm got cut off…  Then again, it had also helped that he had Thera Leaves on him.

            Wait, Yuri did keep restorative items, in case of a job.  This could be a lot easier if one of them just went and…  But splitting up still didn't seem like a good idea, not now.  Besides that, it was locked, and she remembered Yuri had said a few days ago that he didn't have any Thera roots.

            So Alice gave up on that idea and began assisting Koudelka in the healing.  Since Koudelka was actually putting the arm back together, Alice simply concentrated on rejuvenating Halley and giving him strength.  Despite the fact that they'd been healing him since Margarete had left--why weren't they back anyway?--Halley hadn't stirred even a bit.  He was probably exhausted mentally as well as physically and there was only so much healing magic could do.  Alice was willing to bet he'd sleep through the whole night, still several hours away, without waking up.

            She was distracted a bit by the sounds coming from behind her.  Sharon seemed to be coming to; she could hear her voice.  But when Alice turned around to check on her briefly, she was still sleeping, only whispering things.  She was tossing around nervously, like she was trying to get away from something.

            "Is she alright?" she asked Keith.  He, along with Joshua and Chris, was watching the girl apprehensively, wondering the same thing.

            "She's dreaming."

            "It looks like a nightmare," Alice said, turning fully away from Halley.  "Should we, um, wake her up?"

             Keith frowned.  "I'm not so sure if that would be a good idea-"

            Sharon suddenly screamed and jerked awake, stopping Keith mid-sentence.  She took deep, shuddering breaths, her whole body trembling while she stared at nothing.  Everyone could hear her crying.  Chris touched her shoulder, but Sharon shifted away.

            "Sharon…how do you feel…?" Alice asked softly, hopefully in a comforting manner.  She really couldn't be sure at this point.

            Sharon turned her head towards Alice.  "I-Halley!"

            Alice turned her head, already knowing that Sharon had seen Halley, since he was right behind her.  "Don't worry Sharon-"

            "I-I didn't…do anything to him, right?"

            Alice looked at Sharon and realized that she must be scared that she had hurt someone.  "He'll be fine.  And you didn't hurt anyone."  At least, not that badly, she amended silently.  Alice was relieved.  Sharon was certainly upset, but she was sure that it was Sharon--and not a Bifronze.  "Do you remember what happened?"

            Sharon only looked down at the ground and shook her head a little.  Alice said nothing, knowing that she didn't want to talk about it right now.  It probably would be best to leave her alone, at least until she felt better.

            Sharon was confused about the nightmare she had just had.  If she hadn't hurt anyone, why had she had a dream about a whole village, destroyed by monsters?  Why had she dreamed that she'd killed her own mother?  She didn't even remember her…

            "Margarete's got Yuri," Koudelka announced, making Alice and Keith look up.  Keith was confused; he could tell Margarete was getting near, but he didn't sense Yuri at all.  Alice knew both were coming, but something about Yuri's aura seemed to be missing.  That was strange.

            Seeing their confused expressions, Zhuzhen remarked, "Something's changed about the kid, but I'm not sure what it is."

            Margarete and Yuri both came in their direction.  Yuri seemed distracted and worried, which was unusual for him.  But it still didn't explain his aura.

            "How's Halley doing?" Margarete asked first, taking a look at him.  He seemed pretty good now.  Alice and Koudelka were really great healers.

            "He's fine," Koudelka replied.  "What about you Yuri?"

            "I'm fine," he said.

            Zhuzhen raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, if you're completely fine, why is your aura so different?"

            "It is?"  Zhuzhen nodded and Yuri sighed.  "I guess…that might be because all my fusion souls are gone."

            Alice stared at him blankly.  "Gone?" she repeated incredulously.  "How on earth did that happen?"

            "Uh…"  He scratched the back of his head, trying to think of how to explain.  "You know how I told you a few days back I met an exorcist?  Lilia?"

            "Yeah…" she said slowly, not knowing where he was going with this.

            "Well, I kind of found out today she's a summoner.  She, pretty much she took all of fusion souls from me.  And she's also the one who summoned all of the monsters."

            "She did all this…for your fusion souls?" Keith asked.

            Yuri hesitated.  He did know the real reason behind this, but that would involve explaining his last two dreams, and about Regina…and he really didn't know too much about her.  If he told them, Alice would be all worried, and she might try to help, maybe even force her way into the Graveyard like she did once before.  Seeing as Regina definitely did not like her, he didn't want that happening…

            There wasn't anything useful or reassuring he could tell them, so maybe he should just wait until tonight, and get some answers then.  For now…  "Guess so," he said.  Looking down at Halley's healed arm, he added, "Look, let's just take Halley back to your house, okay Alice?  Your mom's probably worried about you."

            Alice's eyes widened as she realized how right Yuri was.  "Can you carry Halley, Yuri, or should Keith-"

            "Geez!  I'm fine, I'm fine," Yuri muttered, bending down to pick up Halley.  As they walked out of the park, with him, Zhuzhen, and the children at the back, he turned and looked at Sharon.  "Feeling alright?  Margarete told me…"

            "That summoner you were talking about," she started, "Does she have brown hair and a red dress?"

            Yuri stopped, startled by the accurate description.  "You saw her?  When was this?"

            Sharon bit her lip and looked up pleadingly.  "She told me she was a summoner.  She said she'd teach me how to control the monsters I summon, but…instead, I…"

            He said nothing, knowing from Margarete what had happened.  Yuri had thought it was an accident when she'd told him.  Why would someone make it happen on purpose?  How the hell could she do something like that?  Using a little girl…

            Sharon mistook his angry expression to mean that he was mad at her.  "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would happen," she said.

            "It's alright, Sharon.  It wasn't your fault at all.  Lilia's the one responsible."

            Instead of looking happier though, she looked down at the ground.  "I wish I wasn't a summoner.  All I'll do is hurt people."

            "Don't worry about that!" Joshua said.  "You'll learn how to control your monsters," he predicted optimistically.

            Sharon looked at him and said, "You think so…?"

            He nodded, with more than his usual energy.  Yuri could tell he was trying hard to cheer her up.  "Yeah!  You're the best summoner I know!"

            Zhuzhen could barely suppress a smile on overhearing this.  She's the only summoner you know.  Sharon cheered up though, glad that he was so confident.

**

            "Hmm…"

            "Yes?"

            Regina glanced in one direction towards a shut door.  She still hadn't come out of there.  "I'm beginning to regret having allowed Persephone to go."

            Pan snorted.  "That child…perhaps it's better she's off my hands.  God, one mortal and she's weeping.  Absolutely pathetic."

            "Stop that, Pan," Regina warned, glaring at him.  "Though my powers are diminished, don't think you can insult me, or those who serve me.  You yourself would have been a mortal and died long ago had you not hid yourself like a coward!"

            "And then you wouldn't have had a prayer to get Hyuga," he said cockily.

            "Perhaps," Regina said.  "But, have you considered something?  Now that we've rediscovered the Hyuga line, now that I have Persephone…how necessary are you?  Do I really need you?  Perhaps you're too troublesome."  She smirked.

            Pan paled as he realized she was right.  If she wanted, she could get rid of him now…and he had some experience with how Regina got rid of people.  "My…my apologies, Regina.  Please…"

            She laughed suddenly, ignoring his plea.  "Don't worry Pan.  You may still be useful.  In fact, I wonder…you should know…I was planning to undo the spell here, but I doubt I'll be able to string Hyuga long enough to get him here."  She grimaced and added, "Especially since Persephone harmed one of his companions."

            "So…"

            "Syth will channel me, but then my magic will be even lesser.  So I need a place where magic is strengthened.  Preferably someplace close to where he is."

            Pan thought of it, trying to remember a place he had often heard about in nightmares.  "I know just the place…"

**

            After Alice had reassured her mother that she was perfectly fine, she joined the others downstairs.

            "Well," she said, "I think that was the worst picnic ever."

            Everyone agreed with her.  "We got our butts kicked by a little girl," Margarete said in disbelief.  She had been like this ever since she got a full description from Yuri of Lilia.  She had been picturing somebody a little more imposing, something like Olga.  Not a teenager.

            "Well, we weren't exactly ready for a fight," Zhuzhen pointed out.

            Yuri yawned and asked, "Is Halley staying here?"  The boy had been dumped unceremoniously onto the couch and was resting there.  "Maybe we should all stay in here tonight," he suggested.  "We'll just take this room, alright?"

            Alice said, "Sure," and then went upstairs to tell her mother.  It would be best if they all stayed together for a while.  She had a feeling that the trouble was just beginning.

**

Reviewers:

PoopooPlaTTer:  Um, seeing as how most of the people resurrected come back as soulless beings, that doesn't sound like a very good idea!  But thanks anyway!

Gutterfiend:

Yuri:  Man…toy…?  ::starts twitching::

Oh, chill.  I'll make sure it doesn't get too bad…besides, you might like it.

Yuri:  No I won't!

Thanks for the information on Koudelka.  I think I might just ignore it, but the only problem is then I either have to cut out Koudelka, or risk making her OOC.  Um, so…if she ever turns OOC, tell me please.

Dragon Wolf:   Okay, one less death threat  ::looks over her shoulder for Raging Tiger::

Sharon is very much a newbie.  I'm considering making her a major character in this story though.  I think Delka is talking about Yuri losing his fusion souls, not you coming out of Double-R, so you don't have to worry.

I'm trying to write, but I'm getting the biggest writer's block ever!  It's very frustrating.

Delka:  Honestly, I can't really imagine how it would feel to get a soul sucked out of your body.  I tried to describe it as best as I could, but I'm kind of confused on that myself.

Greyfriars:  Thanks also for giving me info on Koudelka.

Yuri:  'Femore'?  'Femore'?  Then again, he does say some pretty crazy things…

I didn't realize it was mostly spoken.  That makes it sound even more interesting.  Maybe I should get it.  I got your e-mail, and it kinda fits in with the chapter, so I'm going to leave the whole healing thing alone.  Thanks again.

Radical Rex:  I am sorry if I seemed like I was pissed off.  I didn't mean for it to sound that way.  I was just a little ticked, because I expected the order of sympathy to be Halley-Yuri-Sharon (because, he's pretty injured, and she's a minor character in the game).  So when I got something more like Sharon-Yuri-Halley, I was like, 'What on earth?'

This will probably affect Sharon throughout the story, but no, she's fairly back to normal.

…I'll make sure Halley gets beat up a lot just for that.

Yuri:  Yeah!  I'm the best!

No you aren't.  You don't even have your fusion souls right now.  Best is Keith.  Second best is Alice.

Halley:  What about me?

…I don't even use you after the orphanage most of the time.  But you are a pretty neat character to write a battle for.  I liked writing about that fight.

Halley:  I got beat up!

Exactly.

Halley:  I don't like you.

Nights Mistress:  Persephone's name?  It kind of has something to do with her, but honestly?  It's a cool name.  That was my main reason for choosing it.

**

Most reviewers said either they like variation in the chapters, while others said they like longer chapters but don't like the fact that they take longer to write.  So it'll mostly be short chapters, but I'll throw in some longer chapters.

**

Questions:

1. What age would you say Sharon and Joshua are about?

At any point in the game, do they say anything about the orphans' families? What direction do you honestly think this story's going in?  I'm afraid people are not going to like the kind of story this actually is… Who do you think the mystery pairing is? Would it be believable if some of the storyline actually took place on a different world, or would it be too farfetched, keep it on earth?  (I've got ideas for the latter, but in the beginning I thought it would be the former one)