Disclaimer: I do not own anything I could be sued for

"Ley!" Otes snapped in surprise as he saw her standing in their doorway. "What are you doing here? Get out!"

Ley blinked in surprise as she backed down. "I…nothing sir…" she said sadly. "I'll leave."

As she turned and left, Ley sighed to herself. "He used to be so nice before…that is before mother died."

Leaning against the wall and sinking to the ground, Ley closed her eyes. "It all began…after mother's death. The prophecy had been found. Two keys would appear. Those two keys would emerge and then together they would form a doorway to the opening of a paradise. In there, the opener could make any wish he wanted. And I guess that's when father wanted to find the keys. And when he turned mean to White and I. But it can't be helped."

"Having another one of your pathetic sentimental trips light?" a voice said inside Ley's mind, yet seemed to echo all over.

"In a way." She said casually back. "Why?"

The voice laughed a bit as it grew harder. "I never understood why you care for such people. Like that little magician, and your brother who betrayed you. Why bother?"

"Because I do."

The voice laughed again as it began to fade. "Whatever. Do what you want light. But don't forget, I'll get my dose of blood one way or another."

"I know."

***

Otes sighed as he listened to the sound of Ley's footsteps fade away. "That was close." He muttered as he sank down into his bed.

"Sir…" White said sadly as he stared at his father. "Are you alright? You seem a little shaken."

"I'm fine White." Otes snapped. "Now listen. The plan is working perfectly and everyone is in place. The Queen still has her defenses up and Citlec is still around. However, the half-breed can go. Make sure she never walks again. Here or in the afterlife."

***

Neeces sighed as she stood in the hall. It was nighttime and she was getting tired of looking for Citlec. "He just ran off…" she thought as she sighed. "After that, he just disappeared. I hope he's alright."

***

Citlec sighed as he sat glaring at his reflection in the water in the garden outside of the palace. "I can't believe…I lost." He muttered to himself as he glared harder.

"If that had been a real fight, I would have been killed."

Then angrily, Citlec got up and slashed his image with his sword, breathing hard. "I LOST!" he yelled into the night sky.

"You shouldn't yell you know elf. It might wake the neighbors." A voice said behind him.

Turning, Citlec glared his sword still in the water, dots of liquid on his clothes. "Who?" he demanded.

Out of the shadows stepped Ley, grinning, her gold eyes shining. "See?" she said casually as she grinned at him. "You are too loud. Keep it down."

Growling, Citlec glared back. "Don't tell me what to do!" he snapped. "You're not my mother!"

Tilting her head a bit and grinning wider, Ley snickered. "I may not be." She said chuckling. "But I don't have to be to prove a fact. It's true that elves are good warriors, that myth has been broken since our last fight. But you fight with anger and are blind because of it. Foolish elf."

At that, Citlec growled and tightened his grip on his sword. "Shut up!"

"Ooh…I'm so scared!" Ley teased. "Whatever. You know as well as I do that a fight with me would me death. Don't be a fool elf."

"What was that!"

Bringing her head down, Ley's grin disappeared a bit. "I'm saying…" she said. "You don't know how to pick your fights elf. A lesson that may prove to be most dire in the future. As I have learned in my many years and experience."

Looking Ley over, Citlec narrowed his eyes and then sheathed his sword a bit annoyed at the way Ley kept on calling him elf. "You're not who you make yourself out to be." He snorted. "You're a lot older than you look aren't you? You're not really Ley, and it wasn't really Ley who fought me was it?"

At this, Ley shook her head. "Hahaha…you got me all figured out haven't you? How clever! I guess you're not as big as an idiot as I thought."

Then turning serious, Ley looked Citlec right in the eye. "You're right I'm not Ley. I'm Yami, the counterpart of Ley. And I'm the one who you faced in battle."

Citlec snorted again as he looked away. "So that's how Ley became a Blue Eye. By your help she has risen to the rank from someone else. Why not just take all the glory for yourself?"

Yami shook her head. "I never like the public." She said. "And I don't help Ley through all of her fights. Just the one's from which I feel need some assistance. I know Ley could have taken you on. But because she's the weakling she is, she always pulls her punches to the enemy. I hate that! I can't stand it! So I jump in to make sure no one walks away. Or at least, is able to."

Laughing a deep and hoarse laugh, Yami grinned at Citlec who glared. "You're a monster." He murmured.

"Why thank you elf. I've been working on that for quite some time."

Citlec glared deeply at Yami. "What…what in the hell is she? It's like she's from hell herself! I can sense something evil…something evil brewing in her…"

Turning to Yami, Citlec sighed. "So have you heard about the prophecy yet?" he asked. "I mean, you're from it aren't you?"

Yami snorted and shot a look at Citlec before turning and looking up at the starts. "Of course I am." She scoffed. "Anyone with a good sense of magic would know that. However, I can cover my tracks better than some think. Heh. Not even the king of Spellcasters knows about me. The only suspicious ones are Nagiciam and Sohac."

Citlec sighed again and faced away from her so that they were back to back. "Are…are you going to do as the ancient text says?" he asked. "Are you going to go to the door and become the key?"

Yami laughed again, rough and deep. "No. I have no intention of being sacrificed for some silly ritual for some moron I don't know. And you're wrong about one other thing."

Turning and meeting Citlec's gaze, Yami grinned. "I'm not the door nor am I the key."

"Impossible!" Citlec thought as he stared shocked at Yami who was grinning at him, her gold eyes striking through his. "How…? The texts say that the one who is one yet two is the key and the door to the paradise! She's…the door…she has to be…"

"I'm not."

Citlec gasped as he looked up. "What!" he gasped as he automatically reached for his sword. "How…how did you know what I was thinking?"

Yami only snickered and bit and then turned to face him. "I can read your mind because I am not who I seem to be." She said. "I am nor door and key. I am the path."

"The path?" Citlec asked as he relaxed about half an inch. "There's a path needed? The prophecy says that once one has the door and the two keys for it sacrificed at the temple of Wish, the most powerful temple in the world, once they do that, any wish shall be granted to them. Don't tell me there's another part in the story!"

Yami nodded. "Fool. You obviously didn't read the whole thing." Walking to him, Yami grinned, her head tilted a bit and her eyes filled with gold and darkness.

"The door and key are necessary yes, but to get to the temple at all, one needs the path. To each way there needs to be a path and a path alone. I am that path and I know the way to the temple and how to get past its dangers. No mere mortal, spellcaster, dragon, or elf could get by alone. You know how many fools have died trying to go into the path without me elf?"

"How many?" Citlec gasped in fear, his courage beginning to sink in front of Yami as she seemed to become more evil and terrifying at the thought of blood and death.

"…A millennia of people have all died there."

Taking a sharp breath, Citlec stared straight ahead in horror as he felt himself grow weak and unable to move.

"That's right…" Yami grinned as she leaned in close to Citlec's ear. "I know what you're after elf. I know what you desire. And you know what? You'll never succeed. Prince of Elves."

Then laughing, Yami walked away and left Citlec alone as he sank to his knees, silent in thought.

***

Neeces sighed as she walked out into the front of the castle. It was late; so late it was early. She had been looking for Citlec for a while now and she never found him.

"I hope he's not running around with that tramp Leyline. They seem to fancy each other."

Looking behind her at the castle, Neeces felt her violet hair sweep by her face as the wind blew. "I wonder if Citlec is alright…" she thought sadly as she closed her eyes.

Suddenly a buzzing sound ripped through the air and something painfully sharp ripped through Neeces's neck as she gasped in surprise. Then a few more buzzing sounds and Neeces's blood splattered all over the ground as she felt more things protruding from her back. She didn't have a chance.

"H…He…Hel…Help…"

And then she fell.

Coming out of the bushes, an archer glowered at Neeces body. "Stupid half-breed…" he said before running from the scene.

***

Yami went walking at night. The night that they found Neeces to be exact. With no expression on her face, she only stared straight ahead as she walked, deep in thought. Suddenly, a small muffled sound was heard behind the bushes next to her. A series of small muffled short sobs coming from…

"What are you doing elf?" she asked as she pulled herself through the bushes.

Angrily, Citlec turned his face away from her and sat straight. "N-Nothing." He said angrily. "Just enjoying the night. Why are you here Yami?"

Smirking, Yami shrugged her shoulders. "That's my problem." She responded coolly. "But don't tell me the great Prince of elves is crying! A sign of weakness I suspect. And over that half-breed too? Wow."

Angrily, Citlec got up and with a sudden anger he drew his sword and pointed it at Yami's throat who didn't move, but kept the amused grin on her face. "Shut up!" he yelled as he glared at her deeply. "You didn't know her! You didn't really know her! Nor did you care about her! She was my friend and you insult her in front of me! I hate you! I HATE YOU!"

Yami only kept on grinning. "From the way you make it," she said slowly. "It sounds as if 'friends' isn't really all that true."

"She…" Citlec gasped as he felt tears well in his eyes again. "She…!" Then finally breaking, he dropped his sword and broke down in sobs, not caring that when he dropped his sword, it gave a small slash across Yami's neck making a drop of blood dribble out and a deep cut appear on Citlec's hand.

Watching Citlec drop to the floor, Yami's grin slowly faded as she stared at the broken elf on the ground. Finally, she ordered, "Get up elf. Losing her wasn't the end of the world. If she was truly your friend, she wouldn't want you to suffer like this."

Then dropping down beside him, Yami gently picked up Citlec's cut hand, blood running down her fingers.

"Wha…?" Citlec asked as he only half-heartedly stared at Yami through tear stained eyes.

But he never got to finish as Yami gently kissed his hand, taking all the blood around the wound with her as she parted.

Citlec only stared.

Slowly chuckling, Yami stared at him as she began to lick the blood off her index finger. "At least that made you stop crying if anything." She said evilly. "And your blood tastes soooo sweet elf. You shouldn't waste it."

Grinning, Yami slowly walked away from Citlec again as Citlec held his hand close to him.

***

Nagiciam smiled as he watched Ley as she danced with her wires in hand, wrapping it around wooden blocks and then snapping her wrists to make the string tighten and the wire break through the blocks.

"She really is a demon fighter…" he thought sadly as he followed her with his eyes. "She could kill just about anyone…even take on master if she is this good. And without Yami too."

Thinking about Yami made Nagiciam sigh. "A long time ago, a terrible dragon queen who was half monster who drank blood lived and ruled over the land. Even though she was the key to the paradise, she abused the power and ruled with an iron fist. The dragons that she ruled over finally defeated her. They killed her and then they gouged out her golden eyes that she had. The terrible golden eyes that she had were her trademark. But when she was kind, her eyes turned silver. A cooling silver that was rarely seen. It is said that the spirit of the dragon queen would be born into the next full-blooded dragon that had silver eyes. I guess that would be Ley."

***

"You're not kidding!" a girl Spellcaster said to Hitomi as she walked with a few of her friends. "Your brother likes a dragon! Eeeeewwww!"

Hitomi sighed as she looked away. "I never said he likes her. I just say that they hang out a lot together. Haven't you noticed?"

The second girl prodded Hitomi with her finger. "Come on tell us!" she whined. "Which dragon is it! Which one which one?"

Hitomi sighed annoyed. "I dun wanna tell! I dun wanna make my brother look bad or anything."

The girls only pleaded more and swore not to tell until finally Hitomi said, "Alright, but do you swear not to tell anyone?"

"We promise!"

Hitomi sighed as she took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "It's the girl Blue Eye Rank."

"EEEEEEEEWWWW!"

***

As Nagiciam was walking down the halls the next day, he seemed to notice that everyone was looking at him in a weird way. People kept on snickering at him and whispering behind their fans or hand as if he wouldn't notice.

"What's going on?" he wondered as he looked around and picked up his pace a little. "Why is everyone staring at me like that?"

"Nagiciam!"

Nagiciam turned to see a young man with blonde hair and green eyes with a headband looking glum and another Spellcasters's warrior grinning at him. The blonde's armor was that of Spellcasters warrior and on his head he wore a head cover like Nagiciam's but with a blue rope holding it in place. The warrior was just a simple armor of gray and he didn't have a head cover at all. His brown eyes were gleaming with mischief and mockery and his blue hair shimmered. He was a well-built man who went after a lot of women and had a reputation for being able to get any girl he wanted. Behind the warrior and Blonde who was named Neo were several of the warrior's friends.

"Hello Neo and…Owen." Nagiciam said cheerfully as he said "Neo" and cringing a bit at "Owen". "How are you?"

Owen's grin got bigger as he looked Nagiciam up and down. "Oh nothing much Nagiciam. By the way have you seen the girls lately? Check out the view? Nice view I'll tell ya."

Behind Owen, his friends snickered.

Nagiciam glared at Owen as he gripped his wand tighter. "No Owen I can't say I have been 'checking out the view'. Unlike some people who will stay unmentioned, I don't take pleasure in looking for that kind of scenery."

Owen grinned. "Are you sure? It seems like you like the view of a nice blue scene don't you think? I would never have thought that you'd go for a view being the scaredy Fusionist you are and all around girls. However I don't usually go for such a thing although I might just…take advantage of the situation and maybe even get a chance to f-…"

But he was promptly cut off as Nagiciam punched him squarely in the face. As he watched Owen fall back in surprise, Nagiciam suddenly felt a sudden rage that he had never felt before rise within him and take over him. "Listen you…!" Nagiciam heard himself growl. "This is why everyone's been looking at me weird today! You all think that Ley and I have done something! Well I'll let you know we haven't and if you ever touch her, I'll make sure you never see the light of day again. Understand?"

Then angrily, he turned and stormed away.

"Yeah keep running Nagiciam!" Owen called after him as Neo followed Nagiciam. "You never did stick around to stay in a fight!"

***

"Nagiciam!" Neo called behind him. "Nagiciam! Wait!"

But Nagiciam angrily stormed away from Owen as the thought of Owen and Ley kept running over and over in his head making him angrier by the minute. "Goddamn him that bastard!" Nagiciam screamed in his mind as an image of Ley and Owen holding each other tenderly came to him. "DAMN IT!"

Angrily, Nagiciam turned and without thinking slammed his fist into the next thing that was in front of him which was a suit of armor now dented.

"NAGICIAM!"

"WHAT!"

Shocked a bit at Nagiciam's outburst, Neo blinked. "Well…I was just thinking…are you alright? You know Owen's just all talk and no brains."

Hanging his head a bit and glaring at the dent in the armor, Nagiciam sighed a put a hand on the dent. "I…I don't know…" he said sadly. "I…I was so mad when he said…when he said that. And I don't know what came over me…and I just…I just lost it."

Neo sighed and looked away as he whistled as he ran a hand through his hair. "You're damn right you lost it. You lost it big time." Then turning to Nagiciam and frowning at him, Neo eyed Nagiciam who didn't return the glance. "What's wrong with you? It's that Blue Eye girl isn't it? Tell me Nagiciam."

Nagiciam slowly nodded. "If I…If I ever saw her with anyone else…besides me…I'd…I'd…" he only trailed off and sighed softly.

"Go insane?" Neo finished.

Nagiciam nodded slowly again.

Neo smiled as he looked away. "Have you told her?"

A shake of a head told Neo "no".

"Well you should you know. Before it becomes too late."

Nagiciam only sighed and looked at Neo sadly. "Do you think she even cares for me?" he asked. "What if she doesn't really feel the same way I do?"

Sighing, Neo ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "Then you took a chance and even if you didn't make it, you still took that chance."

Nagiciam blinked at him in confusion.

"Let me put it this way," Neo said lamely. "For me, if I love someone the I want them to be happy. That's the main priority for me. I'd be thrilled if I was returned the love. But I'll be ok knowing that they're alright. That's what I mean."

And with that, Neo began to walk away. "Think about it." Neo called over his shoulder as he left.

Nagiciam smiled as he watched Neo walk away. "Thank you…my friend." He said as he too turned to find Hitomi.

***

Owen grinned as he stared at Ley from across the hall later that night. She was pretty no doubt. "And a pretty thing like that would make a perfect trip for me." That's when he noticed Ley was talking to herself. Or what he didn't know; Yami.

"Can't help if she's a bit strange."

Owen grinned as he straightened his hair and prepared to make his move.

But before he could make a move, White suddenly turned the corner and met up with Ley.

"White!" Ley cried happily as she grinned up at him. "Where ya been?"

White grinned down at Ley and for once, a gentle expression held his face. "Nowhere." He said. "What have you been up to? Talking to that imaginary friend of yours?"

Ley pouted as she playfully glared up at White. "She's not imaginary! She's real!"

"Whatever Ley. You're way too old for such things. You should focus on more important matters like pleasing father. I'm going to go to the training grounds for a few minutes. So you know where to find me."

"Can I come?"

White looked up and then sheepishly, he grinned. "Well, you see, not really because…it's not exactly the actual training grounds…that was more of an excuse to get away from father…more like on a nice girl I met last night…"

Ley blinked. "Huh?"

"Just a joke really!" White said as he held up a hand. "No, no. But I'd like to go this one solo."

"Well alright."

Owen breathed a sigh of relief as White began to walk away, his long blue hair swinging behind him. "Now's the time…"

Quickly, Owen turned the corner as if he were walking normally. Then going up to Ley, Owen pretended to bump into her as he knocked her forwards a bit. "Oh excuse me!" he said suddenly as he reached and caught Ley by the arm holding her up. "I wasn't looking where I was going! I'm such a klutz!"

Ley, who had resumed her conversation with Yami, suddenly knocked Yami into play. "Hey watch it!" she snapped as she straightened herself and swept Owen off her. "Are you blind?"

Owen stared at Yami for a minute as she glared at him with her gold eyes. "This…This is the girl Nagiciam fell for!" Owen quickly thought. "What a choice! Oh well. Loser for a loser. But she would be good company."

Trying again, Owen closed his eyes and swept low to the ground in a bow and elegantly said, "I'm sorry Ms. Leyline. I didn't mean to run into you like that. Please forgive me."

"Oh it's alright. Really, I didn't feel a thing."

Confused, Owen looked up to see Ley grinning at him with her eyes closed. "I'm fine." She reassured. However, mentally, Ley was talking with Yami.

***

"'Oh it's alright'!" Yami yelled at Ley in her mind. "Is that the best you can do? You should have let me rip his arm out for running into us like that!"

Ley shrank back a bit as she stared at Yami who was glaring at her. "Well for one thing, I don't want you hurting people and for another, I'm sure it was an accident. And for a third-…"

"For a third nothing!" Yami screamed. "Can't you see he's trying to hit on you? Look! Look! He's just put his arm around you! Damn it do something! And what about Nagiciam! If he sees you, you're going to regret it! And then other people will start to think you and I both like Owen!"

Ley nodded as she turned her attention to Owen. "I don't want Nagiciam to see us. He would get a bad thought." As a realization came to her, Ley grinned. "Oh I see." She said before she left her mental thoughts. "You want me to get into trouble with Nagiciam but you don't want someone to think you like someone do you? Who is it Yami? Who does little Yami like?"

Growling angrily, Yami glared at Ley as she laughed and left her thoughts, leaving Yami alone. "I'll switch with you so you can have some fun in a minute." Ley called behind her.

"IF YOU WEREN'T PART OF ME I'D KILL YOU!"

***