Disclaimer:  I don't own Shadow Hearts, but I do own a very cruddy computer.  Not for long though, once I get the firecrackers all fitted in…

**

[Halley]

            Margarete looked unhappy as we forced her to pass up the stalls and shops.  I had to admit, some of the items they were selling were pretty interesting.  There was a large store advertising 'slave bracelets' and I wondered what they were.

            It's a euphemism.  They're practically shackles.

            The voice stopped me.  It was the same voice that had spoken before.  'I knew him longest'.  Nervously I glanced back at everyone, but it didn't seem I had said anything.

            I laughed suddenly, getting everyone's attention.  I quickly shut up, although Margarete continued watching me inquisitively.

            Hello, didn't know I could do that.  Focus and keep your mouth shut—you're blurting out whatever comes to mind.

            Well don't talk when I'm about to, I answered.  I had been about to say something, but his distraction made me forget what.

            "Come on Halley," Keith said.  "Let's find a place for meeting."

            I opened my mouth to tell them I was coming, and heard, "Why do you even bother with that beast?"

            Everyone was staring at me.  What are you doing? I asked.

            I'm simply asking him a question, the voice said smoothly.  Let me finish.

            Tell me who you are first.

            Just a bit confused, Keith asked, "Were you addressing me?"

            "No—yes.  Why do you keep helping Hyuga?"

            I covered my mouth with one hand, realizing I had called Yuri a monster.  What are you saying?

            The truth.

            Zhuzhen twisted his staff into the dusty ground, watching me carefully.  "Halley…are you saying Hyuga's a beast?"

            "He isn't," I said, focusing on my words so he couldn't slip anything else in.

            "Yes he is."  This time it was Sharon who said it.

            "Don't be ridiculous," Margarete said sharply.

            "But he is.  He was born of a kitsuune, which makes him a beast.  He has the soul of the devil."

            "Hyuga did not seem like any sort of monster to me," Keith said.  "Nor any kind of demon."

            "So says the devil's servant."

            Keith received the insult with an indifferent expression, but Margarete was fuming.  "Why the hell are you saying things like that, Sharon?"

            "Because they're true."

            "True?  That Alice lusts after Yuri, that Yuri is a devil and a beast, and that Keith is his servant—I've never heard such idiotic crap in my life!"

            An outburst in a marketplace is the best way to gain attention.  I shook my head as a few onlookers gathered, listening to someone chuckling in my head.  My, Lamia's gotten warmer, hasn't she?

            Shut up.

            Why should I? He said nonchalantly.  But the way she's defending him…looks like she's been taken in like everyone else.  Hopefully Lamia's kept her wits about her.

            Strange.  First he had referred to Margarete as Lamia, but now it sounded like they were two separate people.

            Paradox, isn't it?  Just like you and me.

            I focused my thoughts on him, more interested now.  You mean you're my shadow soul?

            The one and only…

            "Oh, shut up!" Margarete exploded.  There were about ten people watching us.  "I don't care if it's God or the devil, just stop parroting!"

            Sharon had a blank face, wiped clean of any emotion.  "Be quiet, Kae."

            Margarete didn't even blink at the odd name, but I thought it was even weirder now.  Why was Sharon calling her that?

            Kae? The voice asked.  Oh god, you mean it's the twin?!

            "Just listen to me," Margarete said, approaching Sharon.  The girl's jade eyes narrowed and she brought a hand up.  There were white sparks and Zhuzhen, seeing the danger, grabbed Margarete's arm.

            "What is that Sharon?" the Adept asked.

            She smiled, her lips pulled tight in anger.  I had never seen Sharon like this, even when she did get mad at someone.  Again she seemed to have that unapproachable aura to me, that no one could touch her.  "She seems to be doubting the power of God.  I want to show her a bit of that power."

            The crowd was gathering more quickly; there had to be at least thirty people here.  Why are we so interesting?

            There's a young angel, the voice explained.  A child from Eden.

            No she's not.

            But that's what they think.

            Sharon waved Margarete towards her in a taunting manner.  "Do you fear God?"

            "Course not," Margarete said.

            "Then touch it," Sharon said.  She put out the glittering hand, level with Margarete's waist.  "Touch my hand."

            What's she going to do? I asked nervously.  I did not like the cocksure expression on Sharon's face.

            Depends.  Does she hate Kae?

            Margarete, and no, I don't think so.

            You sound uncertain, the voice remarked.  I wasn't too sure, since they had been arguing so much lately.  If the girl hates her, she's likely to kill or maim her.  Wouldn't be the first time an angel's struck down a demon in the market.  And if she doesn't hate her, Kae will probably just get shocked.  Big time.  Wish I could see, he complained.

            "Margarete, don't touch her hand!" I yelled.  I doubted Sharon was actually angry or powerful enough to kill Margarete, but if something was controlling her…

            The spy shrugged carelessly.  "What are you worried about?"  She reached forward.

            There was a bright flash of light, blinding me and everyone else in the marketplace.  I shielded my eyes with my sleeve, struggling to make out what was happening.

            The light slowly dimmed.  Margarete was on her knees, her eyes held closed.  Slowly she laughed and opened her eyes, getting up.  "Lots of flash for such a little spell."

            There were some chuckles from the crowd, but more were simply amazed.

            It didn't seem to hurt her.

            Then either she's amazingly strong, Sharon is the weakest vessel I've ever seen—well, I can't see her, but anyways—or this Margarete is a good actress.

            I watched closely and noticed a slight tremor in the spy's movements.  Actress.  Figures.

            Makes sense.  Lamia and Kae were both actresses.

            Sharon saw Margarete's weakness too.  Her face softened and she seemed more childlike, more Sharon.  "Let me heal you."

            "No, I don't need it," the older woman tossed back.  She looked disdainfully on the gathered crowd, her jacket and belt flapping in the sharp wind that had suddenly picked up.  "Come on people, show's over."

            I laughed at her remark and looked around.  The crowd was slowly dispersing, although it looked like we might have some trouble getting rid of everyone.  I noticed something odd; further away a young redheaded girl and blond man were practically hauling a man towards an alleyway.  But the man didn't look scared, only puzzled as he was carried away.

**

            Kain had gotten Syth's arm first, then called for Persephone to help.  Between the two of them, with Kain doing the most work, Syth was carried into the nearest alleyway.

            "We just had to run into an angel," Kain complained.  Quickly he transformed Syth's appearance from green-eyed angel to brown-eyed brunette.  Just to be safe, he altered the lines of Syth's face, making it more angular, and lengthened the hair so it could have been tied back.

            Syth smiled a bit at Kain's frantic changes.  "The most that would've happened was her figuring out I wasn't an angel.  I don't see why you're so worried."

            "You've never impersonated an angel," Kain said.  "They hate demons impersonating them.  Did it once during the war, and guess who I got caught by?"

            From the way he said it, it must have been a well-known angel.  "Michael?  Uriel?"

            "No.  Worse."

            Worse?  Michael and Uriel were the most hot-tempered angels Syth knew.  "Zerachiel?"

            "Sarah."

            "You're lucky you're still alive," Syth said with wide brown eyes.

            "Lucky?" Kain said indignantly.  "The only reason I didn't die was because Hyuga broke in at the same time!"

            Persephone laughed.  "So you got beaten by an angel?  I thought you looked down on them."

            Kain shook his head.  "I don't like them because they're mindless idiots.  But never insult an angel as a fighter.  Even the weakest are decent, and the strongest, well…the archangels have gone undefeated for nearly seventy thousand years."

            "I thought Remiel was defeated in the war," Persephone interrupted.

            "No, he just disappeared after its end.  I heard that he had accomplished his purpose and underwent the absolution.  Although," Kain said, his face brightening as he remembered, "I did hear this rumor once about Remiel and Sarah eloping in the mortal world."

            "And it was just a rumor," Syth said.

            Kain shrugged.  "Wouldn't blame them."

            Persephone looked over Syth and Kain.  Then she fingered a strand of red hair.  "We look too different for traveling together, Kain.  And only you look like you're from here."

            Kain frowned and then put his hand on Syth's head.  He changed the eyes to blue, softened the face a bit, and added a dash of freckles.  He stepped back and saw with some satisfaction that Syth and Persephone could now pass for brother and sister.

            "There.  You two are siblings, and…I'm an acquaintance."

            Persephone shook her head.  "Just can't bear to give up the violet, can you?"

            "Yes, but I know you like your hair red.  So hush before I make it green."

            The teenager was disgusted at the thought of the awful color.

**

[Fox Face]

            I am so dead.

            I nuzzled Alice, my heart sinking when she didn't respond.  The longer she was out, the worse it had probably hurt her and the angrier she would be when she woke up.  I scanned over her, making sure I had healed all the damage.  Lobos was stubborn today so I used Egil's water magic to cure her.

            I am so dead.  I knocked her out.  As soon as she wakes up she's going to kill me.  Ego is going to come back and find Alice wearing a fur coat.  And he'll laugh.

            Alice's eyes started to flutter open.  I backed up a little, but Alice's glare froze me in place.  She was mad.  I thought I'd seen her mad before, but I was wrong.  Before she'd only been irritated.  Now she had an angry, piercing blue stare.  This was mad.  This was fur-coat mad.

            Alice said nothing, letting me sweat out the silence.  Finally I came up with, "Feeling well?"

            "Surprisingly well," she said, "seeing as you just hit me from behind with dark-classed magic!"

            "Actually, that was two hours ago."

            "Two hours?" she repeated in disbelief.  I shouldn't have told her, I decided.  "Two—you could have killed me!"

            "No, I couldn't!  And I wasn't trying to hurt you, just knock you out."

            "Then why was I out for so long?" she demanded.

            "It's not my fault you're out of practice!"

            Quite a bit of color flooded her face, and I knew I'd sealed my death sentence.  Her face still colored red, she smiled sweetly, scaring me even more.  "Let's see just how out of practice I am.  Start running."

            "Why?" I asked hesitantly.

            "You have ten seconds to run.  At the end of ten seconds I'll cast a spell and we'll see how long my range is.  That sounds like a fair test, doesn't it?"

            "At me?"  She nodded and I protested, "But I'm a Dark class!"

            "And you hit a Light class with Dark-classed magic.  Now start running."

            "I know you're joking Alice," I said gaily, trying to persuade her.

            She ignored me and closed her eyes.  "Nine...Eight..."

            "You can't be that mad."

            "Seven...Six..." she said with a raised voice.  Light began to gather around her bible.  "Five..."  Convinced she was really serious, I finally turned and started running.  It was already too late; Alice wasn't as out of practice as I had thought.  She still had a good range and a mean Blessed Light.

            The spell knocked me down onto my side. Well, that wasn't so bad, I told myself, At least she didn't use Advent.  My left side hurt like all hell though, and I realized I'd used up my magic healing Alice.  How ironic.

            Alice stomped on the brownish grass as she approached me.  "Now will you tell me where Yuri is?"

            Not wanting another Blessed Light, I finally told her the truth--at least, part of it.  "He's in prison."

            "What?"  Alice sat down, looking at me incredulously.  Her stare made me feel guilty, but I hadn't done anything wrong.  "Fox Face, why didn't you tell me before?"

            "Because I thought you'd storm the prison."

            "And I will," she said, standing up again, "And if you hit me with another spell, you will regret it."

            I already regretted the first one.  But when she turned to leave, I got up, wincing at the pain in my side, and grabbed her sleeve with my jaws.  Gently though; I didn't want to rip it and piss her off even more.  "Hold on," I said, the words thick because of the fabric.  "Just hold your horses.  Sit down for a sec."

            After a moment, her fists clenched, she sat down.  "I don't understand Fox Face.  Are you still angry at Yuri?"

            Her reasoning stung.  Maybe a year and a half ago I would have done it to hurt him, but I'd changed.  "I did it to protect you.  And I don't hate him," I said firmly.

            She looked at me for a long time and then said, "No, you don't.  I'm sorry."

            Alice was calmer now, possibly because she'd realized her own mistake.  I sighed in relief.  "That's fine.  But listen to me.  This isn't like our world.  Most people here can sense auras, at least well enough to tell what class a person is.  You'd be a Light class in a city that hates Light classes.  Amon would be more subtle than you, and that's saying something.  Actually, just how were you planning on breaking Yuri out?"  She opened her mouth and then thought better of it, and smiled guiltily.  "You weren't actually going to just walk in there, were you?"

            "Well--I can't just stay here if he's in prison!"

            "Alice, he used to be a thief.  He's gotten himself in trouble before, he's gotten himself out.  Give him...give him two more days."

            The exorcist nearly exploded.  "Two--"

            "And I'll go check in the Graveyard as often as you want and make sure he's fine," I offered to assuage her fears.  Hopefully two days would be enough for my other half and Hyuga to straighten themselves out.  Of course, that was probably being too optimistic.

**

[Yuri]

            There was a strong scent of lavender that woke me up.  Heavy metal weighted my ankles and wrists down, and the cold night wind and stone floor made me realize I'd lost my clothes.

            "We searched you for weapons.  Standard process," a woman with raven black hair said. "And my, these do look quite lethal."

            She toyed with my claws as I glared at her, chuckling when she noticed.  "You don't like me?  You should, we're family.  You're descended from my dear sweet cousin, the monster."

            The floor became soft grass I stood upon while a man with blond hair looked down on me appraisingly.  "This is the monster?"

            "I'm not a monster," I answered.  "You're an angel; doesn't God know I'm not a monster?"

            "It knows how to mimic!" the man said with some mirth.  I didn't see what was funny about it.  If even the angels thought I was a monster, even God...then I was.  But monsters couldn't speak.

            The angel disappeared, sinking beneath a black river.  There was a woman with fair skin and pretty brown eyes.  She watched me closely.

            "He called me a monster in the guise of a human.  He said I have the soul of a beast," I told Mnemosyne.

            "Just goes to show what idiots angels are," she replied tightly, her brown eyes flashing in anger.

            "But God is omniscient.  How can angels be wrong?"

            "They are."

            I sat down on the rock, watching the black river, full of crystals.  There were more than normal.  "Busy day?"

            "Famine in the mortal world.  It'll be like this for a while," Mnemosyne answered, following a pair of gems, one blue and the other white, that circled around each other as they drifted down.  She stood near the rock.  She was silent, but then she suddenly threw her arms around me.  "Little master, what is wrong?"

            I settled into her hold, wishing she felt more real and less dream. "I just wonder why I bother talking when no one wants to hear me."

            "Why don't you speak?"

            I was back on the stone floor with cold chains attached to each of my limbs.  The dark-haired woman casually touched me on my shoulder and I shied from the contact. "I know you can.  Your monster forms are interesting though."

            My monster forms?  I looked down and saw my feet changing from talons to paws as my legs shifted from brown to blue scales.  The blue began to spread up until it mingled with dark leathery skin and white fur.  Seravi pushed me down into the Graveyard, putting me face to face with the gardener.  Realizing I was human now, I began to back away.  His light eyebrows drew together in confusion and he touched my shoulder, making me flinch.  "Hyuga, is something wrong?"

            Had he mistaken me for someone else?  But there was no one in the clan named Hyuga.  Who could he be thinking of?

            "How old are you?" he asked.

            Was he mocking me?  Everyone said I couldn't speak, and it had to be obvious who I was.  But he looked serious.  "Seven years old.  Sir," I added, remembering he was a candidate in the Earth clan.

            "Sir?"  The gardener smiled.  "It's been a long time since you called me that."  I simply stared at him, wondering what he meant.  I'd never spoken to him before.  He sighed at my silence.  "Mnemosyne."

            "Do you know her?" I asked curiously.  If he knew her, then she couldn't be a dream.

            But the woman who appeared wasn't Mnemosyne.  She had no brown eyes, and I remembered Mnemosyne always wearing purple and black, not purple and red.  "Yes, Tiresias?"

            "He's come out of it, but he thinks he's younger now.  Seven."

            "Now that he's joining with Yuri, perhaps they have to start all over again.  He'll probably think he's eight soon."

            "Nis died seven and a half years ago," I said.  "And you're not Mnemosyne."

            The woman groaned.  "I'll come back when I've figured out how to force them apart."  She walked away, through the small gates.  When were they added to the palace?  They seemed out of place, since the other gates were all much larger.

            "Force who apart?" I asked.

            "You and Yuri."

            "Who's Yuri?" I continued.  My head started hurting as images flew through my mind, an angel with blue eyes, a kitsuune with dark eyes...and another part of me named the images.  Alice.  Fox Face.  "I'm Yuri?"

            The gardener shook his head.  "Mnemosyne's right.  You do do some silly things."

            My eyelids began to droop as I opened them, breathing hard.  Sweat dripped off my body and I gasped for air.  "I see I'll have to train my new pet."

            I glared at her and saw with some satisfaction that she had drops of blood running down her ivory cheek.  She touched the cuts and then licked the red fingers.  Her cuts disappeared, and I stared at the place where the cuts had been.  Was she a vampire?  But...wasn't that Keith?

            "Why so surprised?"  She sucked the last few crimson drops.  "You're of the clan and you don't know?  We thrive on the destruction of life.  That's what Lucifer loved the most."  Green eyes glittering, she knelt next to me.  "But I'm tired of talking.  Speak."

            "Come, little tiger," Tiresias said with a laugh, "I have much to tell you."

            The gardener reached out to pet me.  I growled and bit into the soft skin presented, hitting in past the bones.  Surprised, he tried to jerk away and exclaimed when my teeth were twisted into his hand.  I released and backed away, still growling.  I wondered if he would try to kill me.  I wished he would.

            But no, he only sat and held his mangled hand, gaping at me with wide eyes.  "What is wrong?" he asked.

            I snarled, baring all my fangs before padding away.  Casually I pissed on the willow's trunk, hoping to upset him into violence.  Still he did nothing.  Why not?  No one would blame him...

            Someone shook me out of my daze.  "Hyuga.  Hyuga."  I looked at Tiresias, then down at his silver buttons covered in blood.  Had I hurt him worse, or was that my own blood?  "How do you feel?  What is happening outside?"

            I glared at him and then turned away, struggling to my feet and using the unexpected grave--who had put a grave in the garden?--for balance.  Pain shot through me and I staggered.  Tiresias tried to catch me.  Immediately I turned, hitting his hand away from me.

            The Earth class stared at me with mossy green eyes.  He seemed sad.  Why should he be?  Things were going well for him, he had been chosen as heir.

            I turned away from him, not wanting him to see anything human in me.  Because he'd only ignore it.  I wished that I was only a monster, with no emotions.

            A scream ripped itself from my mouth as I was brought back into the castle.  Spots swam in front of my eyes, and a feeble attempt to move brought only pain.

            "Don't you dare ignore me," Tsuki said.  She frowned with slim, pale lips.  "You won't talk anymore?  My, you're so boring."  She again produced a dark sphere that crackled as she held it.  She brushed her hands over me in a caressing motion, but it felt like she was plunging a sword in my chest and then dragging it down.

            "N-no…stop it," I yelled, pulling against the shackles.  Even though my struggling was useless, my scream had startled her and the spell stopped.  She stared at me with an astonished expression.  Then the woman recovered and laughed.  "So you can talk.  Do you have a name?  Or should I just keep calling you pet?"

            "Yuri Hyuga," I spat out.

            "See?  It's not that hard," she said with a smirk.  "That's an unusual name.  Do you come from the mortal world?"

            I turned my head away.  She had mocked me enough.

            "I know you understand me Hyuga."  She again chanted in a low voice, her long white fingers shaping the raw energy into a ball.

            I glanced at her and noticed how hard she was concentrating now.  She was getting exhausted, so she wasn't that powerful.  Experimentally I called on Czernoborg to see if I could outlast her, but the fusion soul refused to answer and there was no way I could force him to fuse in this condition.  Reluctantly I answered, "Yes."

            "Don't be so stubborn, Yuri Hyuga.  Well, how old are you?"

            "Twenty-five."

            Her eyebrows flew up in surprise as she exclaimed, "You are but an infant!"

            I scowled as she chuckled.  Twenty-five and only to be called a baby.  First pet, now infant, and watch the self-esteem going down the drain…

**

[Fox Face]

            I gobbled up my meat, blood dripping down my chin.  Alice across from me looked like she might be sick.

            "How can you eat that raw?" she demanded as she turned her own piece over the fire.

            "Fresh and still mooing," I said, "or whatever noise that thing was making."  The exorcist watched me as I ate.  At first I tried to eat in peace, but with Alice observing me that was impossible.  I dropped the large, bleeding piece and wiped my chin off with my foreleg.  "Something wrong?"

            "No…well…please don't be offended?" she pleaded.

            "Like I've ever been offended by anything you've said."

            She cast her eyes down and tugged on her skirt.  "Yes, but…I think you're starting to act more like a kitsuune."

            "Why d'you think that?" I demanded.

            "See, you're offended."

            I flicked my tails in irritation.  "I'm not offended.  I just want to know why you think that."  I was a bit insulted, but I wasn't about to admit it.  Distracted, I began licking my foreleg to get the blood off.

            "Well, I know you like your meat a bit red, but that was only on the fire for ten seconds."

            "I'm hungry," I said defensively.

            "I suppose that's why you're licking your leg."

            Embarrassed, I stopped and then realized what I was doing.  "I'm cleaning it off."  I started licking again, craning my neck to get a few drops of blood.

            Alice took her canteen and poured a little water over my leg, washing the blood off.  I felt disappointed but resolutely shook my leg to get all of the lukewarm water off.

            She apologized for making me upset and I insisted I was not upset.  With a smile the exorcist began scratching under my chin and I stopped arguing.

            "Not fair," I complained.  "That's my weakness."

            Alice went back to her food.  Her meat was well done and she took it off.  Without a fork or knife, she was rather shy about her eating, although she was getting used to the lack of utensils.  She ripped off a small strip as I took a much larger chunk.  We both swallowed at the same time.  My throat hurt from the huge swallow and Alice began chiding me about eating so fast, shaking her head as she did.  We might have been at her mother's house with how she was acting.

            Though I had a feeling Mrs. Elliot, kind-hearted as she was, would never allow a kitsuune in her house.

            "Two days.  Is there a lake nearby?" Alice wondered, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.  "My clothes are getting dirty."

            Ego and her had bought a few clothes in Tripura, but Alice was back in her familiar blue skirt and had been since yesterday.  Everything must be dirty then.  Or at least dirty to her; our definitions were completely different.  As I rummaged through her pack, I saw outfits that she had worn only one or two days.  Still perfectly fine to me, but women were always picking about things like that.

            At the bottom I sniffed out something clean.  "Alice, you've still got an outfit," I told her.  I poked my nose in one of the holes and brought it out.  I glanced at it and frowned, then realized it really was clothing.  "Are you going to wear this?" I asked, my tails wagging at the thought.

            "Do you really think I would?  Look at it."  Alice stood up, holding the white fabric against her body.  It was a sleeveless top.  It had a collar around the neck, followed by large buttons that ended just about the rib cage, the fabric then draping away from the stomach.  Knowing there had to be another piece to go with, I searched in the bag and dragged out a short skirt that might have gone down midway her thighs, also adorned with silver buttons.  It would cover panties at all times, but on the plus side, this was obviously made to hug those curves.

            "Why'd you get it if you're not going to wear it?" I asked.  "I think this would look good on you."

            "Your other half thought so too.  He's the one who got it."  She tapped her foot, still holding the top against herself.  She was obviously not as pleased as me.

            "Oh."  That did make more sense.  "It's clean."

            "I'm not wearing it."

            I pouted, but she was not about to be swayed.  She stuffed both top and skirt back in the bag and sat back down to her meal.

**

[Halley]

            "Alright, we're going back," Margarete said.  "There's no way we're going to find Alice this way.  Maybe she's already with Zhuzhen."

            We'd left Zhuzhen and Sharon three hours ago at the hotel we'd found and gone searching for Alice—or at least, any news about her.  We were using one of the clothed sketches from Yuri's notebooks, since we discovered that none of us could draw a decent picture if our lives depended on it.  Actually, that wasn't quite true.  Sharon had done a passable job to my amazement; her drawings were usually doodles.  She said it was God using her as an instrument.

            We'd decided that Yuri was a better artist than God though and Sharon had gotten very upset.  She was waiting with Zhuzhen right now.  Hopefully she would be calm by the time we got back.

            "Hey Keith," I said, "Now that Margarete's tired—"

            "I'm not tired," Margarete retorted.

            I shook my head.  "Come on, give it up.  Sharon's gone now."

            "So?"

            "You are trembling," Keith pointed out.

            "I'm fine," Margarete insisted.  The tremor in her movements had gotten worse, but probably would be gone if she'd just rest for the night.

            It has to be more than acting, the voice commented.  Most demons would be exhausted by now, even ones in the clan.

            I shrugged mentally and turned around, neatly folding Alice's picture into quarters.  "Fine, let's go back.  It is getting late."

            I took a few steps with Margarete and Keith following me before the spy decided to stumble and fall into me.

            Never mind, just acting, the voice corrected.

            Having fallen face forward with a spy on my back, I rolled over and she slid off, also rolling.  Her eyes were unfocused.  I held up three fingers and asked, "How many?"

            "Six," she answered, her sea blue eyes still unfocused.  Then she frowned.  "Why do you have two right hands?"

            Yep, she's out of it.  I couldn't tell which of us had thought that.

            "Come on, let me heal you."

            "No!"  Margarete rolled over and pushed herself up.  Apparently she'd done it too fast; she went off-balance but managed to catch herself in time.  "See?  I can walk."

            "Well you're standing," I said, "Now take a step."

            She tried to walk forward and almost fell.  Keith caught her, turned her around, and swept her off her feet into his arms.  She made some protest, which soon died down when Keith gave no reply.  Little by little she relaxed, fussing with her hair to fix her ponytail.  The fall had gotten both of us dirty and dusty.  "Idiot."

            "Stubborn woman," Keith returned.

            Margarete's eyes shone in the moonlight.  It was hard to tell whether she was looking at Keith or the moon—there were no stars for her to watch.  Maybe she was seeing nothing; she probably had trouble focusing on anything right now.  But despite her complaints, she actually seemed quite happy.

            Kae or Mia?  I still can't tell.  Damned twins.

            Can you tell me about them? I asked.

            …Depends.  I'll need you to do a favor for me.  I can't break the bonds right now.  I'm getting tired as it is.

            So what do you want me to do?

            Go to the palace.  But don't be an idiot like Hyuga or we'll be in his situation without anyone to help us.  Make sure you stay outside the gates.

            I didn't like the insult to Yuri, but then he had obviously screwed up somewhere to get himself that messed up in mind.  So he didn't want me to go inside, all I had to do was go by the gates.  It didn't sound like it could get me in trouble.

            I dropped back behind Keith, looking around.  It sounded easy…but right by the gates?  What could be there?

            "Keith."  The vampire turned to face me.  Margarete's head rolled around, her mouth hanging open.  I almost laughed at the sight, and my shadow soul wanted to laugh as well.  "I'll come to the hotel later, alright?  I might be late."

            "Where will you be?'

            "Just want to take a look at the palace.  I'll be really late; don't stay up or anything."  I turned away and walked down the street.  The dark blue sky was lit up with hundreds of city lights, but the moon still managed to bathe the whole sky in its light.  It was a milky white.

            Don't gawk like you're an angel.

            I changed my view to see who the annoyed voice belonged to, then realized it was my shadow soul.  It was strange getting used to him, but on the other hand he felt so familiar.  "Like an angel?"

            They love the moon.  Stare at it all the time.  Get any of the more insane ones and they'll rave about how it will one day be covered in our blood.

            "Our…?"

            Demon's blood.  Of course, anyone that isn't an angel is a demon.  Why you'd want to coat it in blood, I don't know.

            I nodded to no one and walked on against the night wind.  He seemed so nonchalant.  The moon could have been dripping blood and he wouldn't have been surprised.

            Why not?  All God has to do is order it, and so it will be.  And there's nothing we can do about it.  In one second, from life to death…

            His whisper died out as my neck seized up again.  I grabbed at it, trying to heal it, but the pain wouldn't go away.  I heard Yuri's barely audible whisper of, "Goodbye, friend," and then the loud snap of vertebrae, the last sound I heard before—

            I was trembling, shivering.  It wasn't the cold air.  I was afraid, with a fear even worse than when Mom had been taken away by Albert Simon.  My legs suddenly weak, I sat down, feeling all my limbs quivering.  Oh god.  I gulped the cooling air, forcing myself to calm down, even as the pain in my neck told me I had died, had died once in a past life and a friend had been the murderer.  A person I was a friend with now.

            And if we had been friends back then…what was keeping him from killing me now?

**

[Fox Face]

            I entered the Graveyard cautiously.  After weeks and months of being free, the stale air choked me.  After a moment I entered the Gates of Self, half-expecting them to slam behind me as a nine-year-old screamed at me with tears streaming down his face.

            "You do not look well," Tiresias observed.

            "I don't like this place," I answered.  "Alice'll wait two days.  Will he be done by then?"

            My other half and Hyuga were still sitting by the tree, watching me with an amused expression.  He started babbling excitedly about how the villagers had stories about a creature like me, called a kitsuune, all the while adding comments like "I didn't think you'd come Tiresias" and "I thought you'd be too busy with the clan."  "But I'm glad you did visit," he ended with a small smile.

            "I wish I had," Tiresias said, shaking his head.  To me he said, "Hard to say, but he's only ten to twelve years old."

            "How old was Hyuga when he died?" I asked.

            Tiresias's eyes rolled back as he thought.  "About forty."

            I groaned.  Even at the rate he was going, Ego would never make it in two days.  And it seemed like he was slowing down.  "God, Alice is going to kill me."

            "Right now?" Tiresias asked, looking up at the gates.  I heard them creak open and whimpered, knowing I would probably be punished for omitting Yuri's condition.

            "Keith?  Yuri!"  I turned to see Alice, looking both surprised and confused.  She cast a bewildered glance at the vampire, but after seeing him shake his head, seemed to understand.  Her face was pale as she took in Ego's ever-shifting image and his still form.  "Is he alright?" she asked me, and then addressed Ego, "Are you alright?"

            "You're a pretty angel," Hyuga remarked.

            "I'm not an angel.  But thank you."  Alice gave me a look that said clearly, 'Anything else you didn't tell me?'  I was in for it.

            "You're Sarah, aren't you?  Shouldn't you be younger?  Or do angels age faster?"

            Alice turned a shade pink, probably finding it weird to have to explain herself to Ego.  "I—"

            "Am I really that evil?" Hyuga said in a plaintive tone.  His eyes—our eyes were completely black.

            Her eyebrows now drawing together, the exorcist said, "No!  Why?"

            "Aren't you here to destroy my soul?"  His eyes melted into brown, and with parts of an old trench coat, he said, "No—Alice wouldn't…"

            "Destroy your soul?  What…does that mean?" she said, turning to both me and Tiresias.

**

Author's Note:  My, my…this chapter has been on paper for over a month, but it did not want to make the transition to computer.  The next chapter is also written, so I'll see how fast I can get that typed up.  Hopefully soon ^^;;.

The ending of Halley's section was spontaneously changed because I realized the original version doesn't work too well for what goes on later.  Oh well.

Sorry if you read the other version of this chapter, where I forgot to include Fox Face's last section.  Dummy me.  ^^;;

**

Reviewers:

Autumn Dragon:  Thanks for being the kick in the rear that made me finish the last half up.  Sorry I made you wait so long!

The Setra Prince:  Actually, I was thinking of Roger Bacon, I was only working under the misguided notion that Bacon was a Light class.  For some reason I just assumed he was.  Koudelka takes place in 1899, doesn't it?  Or else how is Halley only fifteen/fourteen???  -.-;; Um…never mind…I'll only get myself more confused.

Jonathan rigaud:  Not to be mean, but which graveyard scene, specifically?  There are a few that are probably more confusing than they should be (especially the one I butchered first and third person in), but some are supposed to be confusing, because the person who's seeing them is confused.  Such as this chapter, where Yuri is big-time confused.  So I need to know which scenes you're talking about first.

Greyfriars:  Yes!  That was the Koudelka bit.  Mnemosyne tossed Patrick into the river since he was being all second-guessing about it.  I'm not sure if I gave his name, but I gave Elaine's and the fact that he was generally being a nut about it  (you have to be a nut about a woman in order to do what he did .).  And actually, you spelled Mnemosyne correctly.

Seriyu-the-ice-dragon:  Oh, okay.  I liked the manga better though.  (For some reason, it's not in Shonen Jump anymore.)

Darkness featurin' Kitty:  Well, Alice does have to snap eventually, she has so little SP.

Hehehe…this is really, really late.  ^^;;  Please don't kill me.  ::hides behind Yuri::