Disclaimer:  i. Do. Not. Ow. ShadOW HeArTs!  (Ha ha!  Take that English teacher!)

Yuri:  ::sigh:: Don't worry, the rest of the chapter isn't like this.

**

            "I guess…that means we should go back to Blue Castle now, right?" Alice asked.

            "Actually…"

            "We're back," Margarete announced.  Keith sat down as she said this, and she crossed the clearing to get to her small log.  "What'd we miss?"

            Yuri looked at her.  She didn't seem angry anymore—they must have made up.  "I was thinking, just for today, why don't we take a break?  Maybe go see Nina and Michelle."

            "Are you sure?" Zhuzhen asked.

            Yuri nodded.  "Why not?  Regina hasn't been doing anything for a while.  There's no hurry.  And…well, we deserve a break, don't we?"

            "Yeah," Halley agreed.  He was feeling a bit worn out from last night.  A day to relax would be nice.  What could it hurt?

**

            "So, I understand now," Persephone said thoughtfully.  "The dream was actually made by the fusion souls…"

            Regina nodded.  "Right.  When I first showed him their corpses, I only meant to show him how they died.  It was only that one night that I showed him.  But the fusion souls took those images and decided to play a trick on him, I suppose.  Although why they did…"

            "Do they hate him?"

            "I would think so, if they did something like that."

            Persephone shifted in the doorway, looking uncomfortable.  "But why?  The monsters I summon are never aggressive towards me."

            Regina gave a soft sigh, lying back on her canopy bed.  "I don't know.  I really don't know."  She toyed with her gold necklace, thinking.  "But, from what they did, I think they might remember still."

            "Still?"  Persephone seemed very surprised.  "You mean that Hyuga used them then, too?"

            "Yes…at least, those eighteen.  The other two, Amon and the Seraphic Radiance, he never had those.  But those…perhaps because they are of different elements…?" Regina mused.

            "Then what about the fusion souls of Darkness?" her servant asked.

            "You're right," Regina said.  Suddenly she sat up.  "Of course.  Once Hyuga fuses with a monster, it loses its body.  Perhaps they hold a grudge against him for that."

            "But they've never done anything to him before."

            Regina thought about this, watching the flames of heat that came in through small, vent-like openings.  She glanced at Persephone, suddenly remembering.

            "How long have we been chatting?  You must be uncomfortable."

            "Oh!  Well…just a little…"

            Regina smirked and stood, leading the girl out into the hallway and up the stairs.  Usually Persephone just woke her up and they went upstairs, but this time they'd gotten sidetracked with conversation.  Persephone had been dealing with the increased temperature for quite some time and, even with the light dresses she usually wore, it must have been agonizing.  Regina didn't really know; as one of the Fire clan, temperature didn't really matter.  The only time it was a nuisance was when it was too cold, and then she could always make a fire.

            But, instead of saying anything, Persephone just stood and dealt with it.  It was hard to tell sometimes whether the child was really happy or not.  She never complained when most people would.

            "Is something wrong Regina?"

            "Hmm?  No."

            "You were frowning."

            "Just thinking."  She'd brought up an interesting point.  The fusion souls hadn't done anything before to him, had they?  So why now?  Was it because of her?  Or…  "Perhaps they're trying now, because he's regaining his memory.  Maybe they're trying to distort what really happened."

            "What really…?"

            "All of them deserved to die.  That he should be accused of being a murderer, when they were all—except—"  She stopped, and Persephone turned to look at her as her expression softened, pensive.

            "Regina?" she asked quietly.

            "He was our ally, but…it wasn't his fault…"  Her mistress snapped out of her daze.  She tried to smile.  Why think about that?  "Sorry.  I'm getting tired of waiting though.  Pressuring Hyuga too much would make him refuse—I thought if I just waited, he would come—but it's…nothing seems to be happening."

            "You don't have to worry."

            "Persephone?"

            The summoner smiled, trying to cheer Regina up.  "I don't know why, but I have a feeling that Hyuga will come very soon."  She didn't know why, but something had seemed to change about him—some restlessness, which she took as a good sign.

            And the sooner he came, the sooner Regina would be contented.  The sooner, the better.

            "And when he's ready, I'll take him to you."

**

            Margarete watched as Yuri briskly marched at the front of the group.  With what had happened last night and how much he slept, she thought he might still feel a bit under the weather.  But here he was, rarin' to go.

            Then again, he must be looking forward to a day off.  Even though he hadn't complained much, he'd been put through an awful lot of crap in the past few weeks.  And he couldn't be looking forward to the possibility of meeting with Regina.

            She slowed, careful to avoid the logs and stones in her path.  Were they going to meet with her?  They'd talked about going to this 'other world'—no one had a clue what it'd be like, except maybe Alice and Yuri since they'd been in the Graveyard—but did they have to meet this damn woman?

            Guess so, she thought.  She's never going to leave us alone until Yuri meets her, and no way the kiddo's going alone.

            "Hey!  I just thought of something," Yuri said out of nowhere, interrupting their progress to Bistritz.  "About what she might want me for."

            "What is it?"

            "Well, Zhuzhen said something about a war, but Margarete said probably not."  He turned to the spy, seeming puzzled.  "But wouldn't it be easy?  I mean, wasn't he the 'Overlord' or whatever?  He could just command all the elemental class people, right?  And I'm his descendent…"

            "Didn't you hear what Stephen said?" Zhuzhen asked.  "Why do you think it was called the Elemental Clan War?  Those of the elements were finally able to choose for themselves who they wanted to fight for."

            Yuri seemed puzzled, and shrugged.  "I don't know.  I started spacing out…after he mentioned his birth…I even missed what his name was."

            "For some reason, he didn't have the ability of an Overlord," Keith explained.  "Which was the reason he was eventually banished."

            "But what was his name?"

            "They never gave him a name," Halley told him.  "They didn't bother, since he was just a…"  He trailed off as he realized what he had almost said.  What Stephen had said before.

            Just a soulless monster.

            Everyone was silent, waiting for Halley to finish his sentence, hopefully not in the way they had thought he was going to.  The moment stretched too long; Yuri knew what he had meant.

            Smooth move kid!  Trying to get rid of the awkwardness, Margarete interrupted.  "And about the whole 'Overlord' thing, it's only the firstborn.  What're the chances that you're descended from all the firstborns in your family?"

            He shrugged.  "Might be a chance."

            She rolled her eyes.  "Whatever.  Although, I suppose we could test that on Keith.  He's from the Earth clan so, go ahead."

            "Hm…"  Yuri walked over to Keith, who looked a little annoyed that Margarete had volunteered him.  Oh well.  "Let's see…you're getting sleepy…veeerrry sleeepppy…"

            Keith shook his head.  "It's not working."  He suddenly yawned.  Everyone looked at him suspiciously.  The vampire scowled.  "You know I'm always sleepy in the morning, that doesn't count.  Try something else."

            "Okay…sing," Yuri suggested, grinning as he remembered the one time Keith had sung.  "You will siinnng…"

            "Like hell I will."

            "Oh well, was worth a shot.  I'll just have to get you drunk again."  He was laughing, trying to get everyone to lighten up.  After Halley's mistake, Margarete wasn't sure that would be possible.

**

[Yuri's POV]

            Now I'm not so sure I want to take a day off.  Everything seems so quiet now.  Margarete's keeping the conversation going—trying not to let us get too depressed—but everyone is subdued.  Maybe it's just from yesterday.  I don't know too much about what I did, besides kicking Halley in the face.  Maybe they're all just tired.

            Exactly why we should take a day off.

            I wonder if Halley's mad at me for what I did.  He didn't seem too angry yesterday, but today he's just been distant the whole time…

            I wonder what he was going to say.

            'They never gave him a name, since he was just a…'

            Why wonder?  It's obvious.  He was born of a monster.  Why give some damn monster a name?

            Do the others…do they think I'm a monster?

            Does Alice?

**

            "Hello, Keith!" Nina greeted the vampire.  "Did you sleep well?"

            He grinned.  "Very well, until a certain someone disturbed my slumber," he said, casting a sidelong glance at Margarete.

            "How long have you been awake?"

            "A few weeks now."

            "Why didn't you come sooner?"

            Another sidelong glance.  "I was in a bit of a hurry."

            "Hey," the spy said, "It woke you up."  She grinned, remembering how angry he had been at first.

            "Well, come on in," Michelle said, holding the door in.  "It's good to see you again."

            "How have you two been doing?" Alice asked politely.

            "We got the seeds from the plants that died."  Nina walked towards the back of the store, and then came back with a bag.  She carefully emptied its contents out on the counter, making sure none of the wheat seeds fell.  "And then we tried planting again.  This time they didn't die."

            "We saw them outside.  They look kind of small," Halley said uncertainly.  He didn't know too much about crops.

            "We just planted them."

            "Oh."

            "If these grow well, we might try growing more.  Maybe sell some of them," Michelle told them.

            "How's the store?"

            "It's alright, though it could be better.  So, what have you all been doing?  Another quest?"

            Alice laughed.  "You could call it that…"

            "Do you need anything?  Any items?"

            "Well…"

            As Zhuzhen walked towards the rows of items, Nina grabbed Keith's hand.  "Can we play again?" she asked.

            Keith looked surprised, but then nodded.  "Of course."

            "What's the game?" Yuri asked.  This sounded like a good distraction.

            "Well…we have six people…we could play hide and seek," Nina suggested.  No one disagreed, so she asked her mother if she could go out.  Within minutes, they were all hidden and Nina was looking for them.

            Yuri watched from his lofty hiding place, confident he was hidden well—but Nina quickly found him, right after she found Alice.  Disappointed, he dropped down from his branch and waited as Nina found the others.

            Keith and Halley were a little harder for her to find, but Margarete was downright impossible.  The game spread throughout the whole town, and there were many hiding places to check, but after an hour, they decided it would be best to just give up.

            "Margarete!!  Come on out!  I give up!"

            No sooner had Nina said this, Margarete stood on the store's roof and jumped down.  Everyone glared at her.  "What???"

            "That was hardly fair," Keith said.  "How is she supposed to find you if you're on the roof?"

            "She could climb on."

            Alice walked around the whole store, looking puzzled.  "But there's no ladder.  How did you get up?"

            "Acrobatics."

            Halley sighed.  And she thought Nina could get up how?  "Okay, everyone who thinks Margarete should be 'it' next, raise their hands."  There was a prompt and unanimous vote.  "Your turn, Margarete."

            "Fine," she said.  There was a minute for everyone to hide, and then she came searching.  It was then they realized that perhaps making Margarete 'it' had not been the best decision; she found them all in only five minutes and was extremely pleased with herself.  "And that, kiddies, is why I am Miss Spy Genius.  Your turn kiddo."

            Yuri rolled his eyes and leaned against one of the houses, beginning the count.  In the meantime, everyone else scattered around town.  Yuri turned back around and began looking around.  Nina, hiding behind a barrel, was rather easy to find.  The others were well hidden though, and he spent a few minutes searching without any results.

            After a while, he found Halley in some bushes.  His back was to him, and he snuck up on Halley as the boy watched the other direction, making sure to be quiet.  Yuri tapped him on the shoulder, effectively startling him—and then had to duck as a spell came flying at him.

            "Halley!  Calm down with the spells, alright?!"  That had been close.  He'd almost gotten hit by an Air Shot, which would not have been fun.

            "Dammit, don't sneak up on me then!"

            Yuri sat on the ground and looked up at Halley, noticing that he looked rather uncomfortable.  "Is your neck sore?"

            Halley realized what he was doing and dropped his hand.  "It's fine."

            "Are you sure?  You've been acting kind of strange the whole day…did I do anything else to you last night?  Sorry if I did."

            Oh, I don't know…I had a vision of you killing me, you had a dream about it, some damn fox with your voice nearly killed me…  Halley smiled, trying to not think about it.  "You didn't do anything.  I guess I'm just kind of jumpy, that's all."  'Jumpy' was not exactly the right word for it.  That same feeling of uneasiness had lingered on, past the vision, even though he knew Yuri wouldn't do something like that.  'Paranoid' might be more appropriate.

            Yuri was silent for a moment, then led Halley to where Nina was waiting for the round to be over.  He didn't say anything.  Halley knew he didn't believe him.

            After Yuri found everyone, Nina announced that it was her turn next.  "Well, this time you only have to find four," Yuri told her.

            "You're leaving?"

            He nodded and looked at the others.  "I'm gonna go back to the campsite and rest awhile."

            "I'll come with," Alice said.

            "Don't worry.  I'm fine.  Just want to get in some more sleep."

            "Is anything wrong?" Keith asked.

            Yuri glanced only briefly at Halley, then shook his head.  He turned and left them, walking though the east gate.

            He lashed out at the vegetation, now scowling.  Why didn't Halley trust him?  He was sure he must have done something yesterday…but what?

            Various plants and flowers were trampled under the heavy boots.  Although he occasionally looked up to make sure he was in the right direction, he paid no attention to the path he took, stumbling and kicking his way through bushes.

            Everyone…it'd been so quiet this morning, everyone was acting weird.  Was it because he'd mentioned the dream?  No, Margarete had told them that it was only a dream.  It couldn't be that.  Or was it…no…no, it couldn't be, because—

            "I'm no monster!"  He pounded a tree with his fist.  It shivered and dozens of tiny green leaves came floating down, some landing on him.

            Almost as a challenge to what he had said, there was a sharp bark.  Yuri turned and stared at the large fox.  "Fox Face?"

            He growled as he tensed.  Yuri quickly prepared to fight, already equipped since there were monsters in the forest.  Then he gasped as he felt the fusion souls fusing with Fox Face.  Not just one of them, but many.

            The fox changed, gathering bits and pieces of different animals in an odd arrangement.  An extra pair of forelimbs grew, one of the Fire class trademarks, and the sharpest claws—those were Lobos'.  The tails changed from a dark brown to resemble one of the Water class soul's.  Most of his body developed leathery skin, as Dark class souls had, but two golden balls floated around him, like a Light class.  Last, but definitely not least, two giant bird wings extended from his back.

            "Do you know how screwed up you look?"  Yuri asked.

            Fox Face's growling grew louder; apparently he was not pleased by that remark.  A ball of water began to form above him, and Yuri got ready to start dodging.  But there was a flash of fire, so bright Yuri winced, and when he looked again, his vision was obscured by clouds of mist.

            He scanned the area, looking for his opponent, but he saw nothing, not even a silhouette.  Was he hiding?  He concentrated and tried to sense him, but felt nothing, not a trace of aura.  Damn it…

            Suddenly he cried out as a large boulder hit him with amazing speed.  He fell forward, both his head and back aching from the impact.  He sat up—his vision swam, four shadowy foxes approaching him that merged into one—he punched Fox Face but then felt his arm being grabbed, the teeth digging into them…blood dripped down onto the ground, red turning to black—

            He slumped forward as Fox Face pulled his arm, making the other Harmonixer stop.  Curiously, he tipped the other over with his snout, observing that he was unconscious.

            "Hm.  So that's what a Chimera can do," he said thoughtfully, rather pleased.  The mist slowly faded, no longer necessary.  Noticing the blood from his arm, the canine slowly healed him, taking care that he didn't wake up.

            A chorus of deep growls distracted him from his job; he turned, already knowing what he'd see.  He had smelled and heard them a while ago, but hoped they'd stay away.  Now he snarled at the pack of wolves, but they were still approaching.  Of course, there was a full-course meal to tempt them.

            "What a nuisance you are," he muttered.

**

            Yuri was now in a very foul mood.  This day could not get any worse.  Hell, this week couldn't get any worse.  This was probably the low point of the month too.

            Fox Face was really back.  And he'd just lost to the damn fox.

            Not only that, but now he was in the Graveyard.  He banged on the gates, trying to see if he could get back out, but they were firmly shut.

            "Oh, great, so apparently I'm supposed to do something here.  Well screw that."

            He moved onto kicking the gates.

            "So you think you can just avoid responsibility?"

            Yuri turned around.  Standing at the beginning of the steps was a figure, cloaked in black with a hood drawn over the head.  The voice clearly belonged to a male.  "What do you mean, 'avoid responsibility'?  Just because someone gets an urge to summon me to this forsaken place doesn't mean I have a 'responsibility' to go.  Would you just let me leave?"

            The man ignored the request.  "You are trying to avoid the fact that it is only your fault that your friends are involved in this little quest of yours."

            "Look, they wanted to come along."

            "And you're letting them?"

            Yuri shifted from side to side, feeling a little uneasy about this.  "What's your point?"

            "My point is, that dream was true.  And if you let them come with you, it will mean their deaths."

            How does he know about my dream?  At the same time he thought this, Yuri protested, "Nothing is going to happen to them!  They can all take care of themselves fine!  And I'll protect them if I need to."

            "Strange.  How can you be both guardian and murderer?"  The man made a small 'hmph' noise, as though amused by what he had said.

            In the dream, they blamed me…  "I'm not going to kill them.  That was just a stupid dream!"

            "Then why are you so upset about it?"

            "What am I supposed to do?  I have to meet with Regina, it's not like I have much of a choice.  And Alice insisted we stay together!"

            "Run away."

            Yuri froze.  "Huh?"

            "Run from your friends, if you really care about them.  Meet with Regina alone."

            "But…I don't know how.  And we're all involved.  Everyone recognizes her."

            "You were once all involved with her, in one way or another," the cloaked figure said impatiently.  "But you are the only one she wants now."  He shook his head.  "About the method, it is simple.  If you choose to, you can go as soon as you awake."  Yuri got the impression that he was being glared at, though he couldn't tell with the hood.  "Or would you rather be a murderer?"

            "I wouldn't—"

            "You'd be surprised what you would do, Hyuga."

            "Shut up!  You know nothing about me!"  Yuri found himself breathing hard, growing increasingly angry.  "I'll go," he snapped, "Alone.  Not because anything would happen to the others, but because it only involves me.  Happy?!"

            "Satisfied."

            Yuri whirled around and yanked open the Graveyard gates, leaving the figure alone.  Slowly he turned and walked to the Grave of Fire, placing his hand against it.  "Regina!"

            There was such force and power in the command, she appeared immediately.  It was then that he removed his cloak; she smiled pleasantly.  "Hello, Hyuga."

            "Regina.  I want to meet with you.  Can you arrange it?"

            Her smile broadened and she laughed.  Persephone had been right.  "Of course Hyuga."  Although, something was odd.  Judging from the last time she'd seen Hyuga, she thought it would have been longer.  And Hyuga…  She frowned suddenly.  "You've changed.  Because of the Flare Brooch?  You seem even more like you used to be…and yet, still different in another way…"

            He raked his short brown hair through his fingers, trying to think of a way to explain.  "I am exactly Hyuga, as he once was.  Yet, as you say, different too.  Like a reflection or shadow of his soul."

            "A soul's shadow?"

            "That makes me sound like merely an object.  I prefer to be called a shadow soul."

            Regina chuckled at his assertive nature.  That would never change.  "But you will come?"

            "Send the summoner; I will come."

            Yes!  This was wonderful.  Finally…  "I shall see you soon."  She disappeared in an instant.

            Padded feet crept up to him.  "Hmph.  Do we have to meet her?"

             "It is necessary.  She insisted we come.  Thank you, Yuri."

            The fox shook his head; if it were possible, he would have smirked.  "I rather enjoyed that.  Would've been perfect, except for those idiotic wolves.  Thanks for teaching me the Chimera trick, sure confused the hell out of him."

            The man was both pleased and worried to notice that there was no anger in the fox's tone towards his other half, only amusement.  "I must ask you one more favor though."

            "What is it?"

            He glanced towards the Gate of Self.  "You were once willing, despite the risks to yourself, to kill your other half…if it becomes necessary, would you be willing to do that again?"

            The fox started.  "You were the one who asked me to accept him, forgive him…now you ask me to kill him?"

            "She asked me to have hope."  He laughed.  "Hope.  Not even the river Lethe could take my despair away…but for her sake, one last chance.  Should this fail, I refuse to have the others dragged down into my hell.  Ego should be the only one corrupted…I hope you would make sure no harm comes to the others.  To her."

            Fox Face bristled, almost snarling at the thought.  "If I kill him…what will happen to me?"

            "I won't lie.  I don't know for sure, but you will probably die as well."

            "Very well."

            "So we are agreed."  The shadow soul looked around at the graves, and then shook his head.  "Enough.  I cannot bear this anymore."  As if it had been an incantation, as soon as he said the words he began to change, growing smaller.  The cloak grew larger on him, beginning to fall off of his shoulders.  The eight-year-old boy grinned at Fox Face, unaware that there was anything wrong.  "You're back, Yuri!  Want to play a game?"

            The fox only shook his head at the transformation.  "You really do prefer naiveté."

            "Hmm?"

**

            Yuri moaned as he woke up.  Above him was a face, watching him patiently.  "My head hurts."

            "It probably wouldn't if you didn't sleep on the ground."

            That woke him up.  He recognized that voice, and after glaring at the figure and waiting for his eyes to work right, he finally determined that it was Lilia.  "What do you want?"

            She frowned, although it was difficult to tell with the day at dusk.  "Regina did tell me you wanted to see her.  I'm here to take you there."

            "You can?" he asked.

            "Of course I can!  I'm a Dark-class summoner."

            He rubbed his head, feeling confused.  Well, at least he wasn't in any pain.  Wait a second…who'd healed him then?  Definitely not Lilia…

            "How does that make a difference?"

            "Never mind.  Are you ready to go?"

            "Right now?!"  He stared at her.

            "You already have your equipment.  But if you want to, go tell your companions that you're going."

            Yuri frowned.  Well, he couldn't tell them he was going…he'd leave a note.  At least then they'd know he wasn't dead or something.

            "Go ahead.  I'll wait right here when you're ready."

**

            As he got back to the campsite, he was relieved to see it was empty still.  Probably they were chatting with Nina and Michelle or something.  But he hurried, knowing that they might come back soon.  He grabbed a random piece of paper—a light yellow shade—and wrote a message saying he was going, he was fine, and don't bother with Regina anymore.  All written in Japanese, but he knew both Zhuzhen and Margarete could read that and wasn't worried.  Then he flung it down and walked back to where Lilia was waiting.

            Had he stayed just two more minutes, he could have seen Margarete and Halley, leading the way back to the campsite.

**

            "So how does this work?" he asked.

            Persephone sighed.  "Just relax, and don't try to fight it.  This will probably take a while, since it's your first time."  She remembered how her first experience had been—she'd fought too much, felt like she was being suffocated.  "It gets much easier after a while."

            He looked unconvinced, but too bad.  Persephone began a slow note on the flute, watching as black strands began to form a circle beneath them.  Once complete, new strands began to lift up towards them, weaving strange, lazy paths in the air.  One snapped around Hyuga's wrist; he was startled, but then black strands whipped around Persephone's wrists, binding her.  Her ankles were already shackled by the darkness that was now beginning to pull her down, into the ground.

            "Yuri!"

            Both Persephone and Hyuga were startled, and turned to see—oh, wonderful.  Persephone swore mentally.  Hyuga was much more vocal.

            "Oh shit.  Shit.  I knew that was a bad idea."

            His companions had apparently found the note.  They were all rushing towards them, the Light-classed girl at the fore.  "Yuri!"

            "I suppose you don't want them to come with?"

            "They're not involved in this."

            "Then focus on blocking them.  None of them are of Darkness?"

            "No."

            "Good.  Now concentrate!"  A barrier rose up like an invisible wall, separating them on all sides.  She figured it could hold while they were crossing to the other world.  Hopefully.

            Damn.  Damn the girl.  She had reached them and, though the wall had pushed her back, looked very determined.  She tried again to penetrate the wall, this time using magic.  Hyuga and Persephone focused all the more on making sure she stayed out, but—

            There were flashes of light in the dusk; at times there was a blinding light, then followed by a wave of darkness.  There was the sound of screaming, and someone was also cursing.  Persephone felt like she was being torn apart in the conflict of dark and light magic, the darkness slowly crumbling away until the girl fell through and into the circle and then—

            Then they were gone.

**

Author's Note:  You know, despite the fact that I now have more time to write fanfics, this is the first time I've updated anything this week.  You guys must hate.  I'll try to update more often.

But something has been bothering me this past week, namely: my subconscious is trying to make sure I never leave school.  Really.  In past summers (and winter vacations, and spring breaks) I have been occasionally troubled by dreams of school.  Oddly enough, I never have these dreams while actually in school.  But this summer, it's reached its peak.  Monday was my last day, and on Monday night through Friday night (and probably tonight as well) I have had at least one dream about school.

Does anyone else's subconscious like to torture him/her like this???

Yuri:  Mine does.

No, with the school thing.

Yuri:  Nope, that's just you.

By the way, about "Faithless"…that was supposed to be just a little tidbit kind of thing, kind of like a preview…but based on some of the reviews I got, people will kill me if I do not update that soon.  So maybe I'll update on Sunday-Tuesday.  Sunday only if I'm really inspired.

By the way, I still think people might hate the idea for the plot.

Yuri:  I saw it.  I hate it.

Well, you know what!  You're really not a supportive muse, so THERE!!!  I think I'll switch to Alice.  She's much nicer.

Yuri:  …Ok-ay…and that really weird mood swing was brought on by…?

Dunno  ::whistles::

Yuri:  ::rolls eyes::

Oh, by the way, I know that Fox Face must have been a really weird mental image when he was fused.  But anyways, I gave him two gold, floating balls (please, no weird mental images here) 'cause I think that one of the Light class has those.  But I'm not sure.

**

Reviewers:

Nights Mistress:  Okay, so there are four guesses here:

First, that Keith is related to the Guardian, and that Yuri attacked the Guardian with an armory.

Second, that there are different factions in each clan.

Third, that all of the clans banded together and either assassinated Hyuga or stripped him of his powers.

Fourth, that Persephone or Sharon is responsible for Fox Face's physical manifestation.

Your score:  1 out of 4.  Please play again.

Yuri: O_o  Give her a hint here, at least.

My teachers didn't give me hints during finals.

Yuri:  Don't take your finals frustrations out on innocent reviewers.

Darn.  Fine, I'll say which one's right…the second guess.

Yuri:  …

La la la la la…my stepmom was actually amused by the drop bear e-mail, so I'm not really in trouble.  And now we know not to trust everything people tell us gullible American tourists (and I really have been fooled once, although that was by my own family ::glares::)

You'll find out more about Fox Face.  And Keith and Margarete may or may not be doomed; I was considering killing them off during the last chapter (serious too).

Hmm…I want to believe that your Zhuzhen is just totally jealous.

Delka:  Well, I did say this would be a continuation of the game, so it'd better be related or people would probably kill me.  Were you talking about anything specific?

SQ:  Um…by OC, you mean in character, right?  Or was it OOC?  Hm…

Gutterfiend:  Sorry.  Yuri/Alice next chapter.  I promise.  It's not really a big deal, what was mentioned about the eye last chapter…just a curiosity, perhaps (hint:  AS).  Although I'm glad you did notice that in chapter twelve.

Kimgrasshopper:  I wrote soap?  I don't even watch soap…but yeah, I did realize it was kind of leaning that way.  And I wanted to end it on a lighter note.

I'm a sophomore in high school, which means six more years and then I'm out of college!!!

Yuri:  What if you're plagued by school dreams after you graduate?

::shudders::  Don't even mention it!

The seven-tail/four-tail thing was based on perspective.  Yuri was being approached by Fox Face, so his whole body was in the way and he could only tell there were at least four.  On the other hand, Zhuzhen and Halley saw Fox Face when he ran off, so they got a better view and, between the two of them, could probably determine the correct number of tails.  It's seven.

Actually, thanks very much for your evaluation of Persephone.  That was the kind of reaction I was hoping to get for her.  And where I am going with this?  Actually, a general plot is down, but I don't have a specific ending in mind yet.  Leaning towards a happy ending, but I may be swayed by requests or suggestions or the mood I'm in that day.

Yuri:  ::shivers::  Good mood please…

Greyfriars:  I checked out Cthuugle.com…still have no idea what it's about.  But that's just me.

Original fanfiction?  What about?  I have two stories I want to start writing…

Yuri:  Why don't you wait until you're done with one of these!!!

That and an FF8, FF9, Breath of Fire IV, original Breath of Fire, Suikoden III, Kingdom Hearts (either Sora/Kairi or Riku/Sora, I dislike Riku/Kairi), another SH, another SH—

Yuri:  ARE YOU STARK RAVING MAD???

Nope, but I'm working on it.

Yuri:  I hate you, I hate you…

Araschid:  Really?  I thought Syth was kind of cute (never seen AI, so I don't know what you're picturing).  If there is a pairing (we still debate) it will probably be Pers/Halley.  Hmm.  Persey.

Anyways, about Margarete and Keith…it's possible to write a fic with either of them as friends or as…more ::grins::.  While SH doesn't develop the romance, it does create the possibility for it with that first meeting.  I thought, because it's not developed in the game, there's probably some kind of obstacle between them (in this fic, it's Keith's past and immortality; in another fic, it could be reluctance from Margarete to get anyone involved in her dangerous life).  Of course, that's only if you want to make them fall in love.  You could just have them stay as friends, and that's perfectly fine.  ::shrugs::

Still debating if they will actually get together, or if I should just torture them throughout the fic.

The Matriarch Mavina:  For the whole K/M thing, that's not a possibility.  In my fic, Keith is going to rather lean away from the majority of vampires in mythology.  Although he can drink blood (and that may be addressed later on…) and is immortal, those are pretty much the only similarities he shares.

Rex:  Actually, only one clan out of the six is completely undivided in which side they're on…and it's not the Wind clan.

…You really didn't try the thing with the frogs, did you?