Author's note: I know this chapter is shorter than before but its leading to something exciting. Now I'd like to thank Swords-babe and Lord Cirenmas for reviewing and now… on with the show!

Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. own. Breath. Of. Fire. Got. It?

Paths of the heart:

Chapter VII: The march to Crestville

"Now… where am I?" Ryu muttered looking at the map the woman had given him, "Hollybranch road… got it, now where is Lilyfield row?" he murmured tracing his finger along it "AHA!" he shouted in glee, causing many to look at him in confusion, but then dismiss him as a punk.

"Hmm… along here… down there, left…" Ryu said to himself ignoring people looking at him like he was a nutter.

"Ahh!" he cried watching a car rush by, "What are those?" shouted the flabbergasted dragon, "Uh, excuse me, but what are those things? They look like metal whelks on wheels!" He said to a random guy, this guy looked at him, his left eye twitching slightly and replied.

"Those are cars, you nut job!" he said as he stormed off obviously having a bad day, Ryu scratched his head, and this was seriously NOT his day either.

'Lets review the day shall we," He thought sarcastically 'Nina's been kidnapped, we are still in the wrong dimension and I've been branded a "Nut job" plus, I have no idea where my friends are, can my life get any better?"

Speaking of friends…

"You're still up?"

"Just… thinking…"

Cray turned to Ursula, who at that moment was situated in front of a blazing fire, gazing misty-eyed into the flames.

"All that thinking could be bad for you… you know." Cray said quietly,

Ursula closed her eyes and replied.

"It's been… a day now…"

"Do not give up hope just yet, destiny has just decided to kick our butt's a bit, but it has not defeated us yet… you dummies."

Both Cray and Ursula turned around, and there in her full transparent glory was Deis.

"Bah! Stupid Car-monsters, why wont they let me cross?…" Ryu said angrily to himself, attempting to cross the busy main road.

"Maybe they are guarding something…" Ryu said thoughtfully when it came to him, why not use 'shift' (the skill you get from the the puppet girl, to warp across the map.) And in 2 seconds flat Ryu found himself on the other side of the road, nobody seemed to have noticed anything.

'Gotta loooove that ability…' he thought.

"Deis?"

"The one and only… well except in the other destined cycle's…"

"Eh?"

Deis shook her head.

"Nevermind…"

Cray and Ursula were confused, but decided to drop the subject.

"What do you mean we haven't been beaten yet, is there hope that we can get Ryu and Nina back?" Cray asked.

"… Well you know we saw them disappear into a warp hole?"

They nodded,

"Well I read some ancient text about a millennia ago…"

"And…" said Ursula eagerly

"I forgot."

They sweatdropped,

"But… I'll look it up again, see you morons." And she vanished with a wink.

Cray looked to the spot where a see though Deis once stood, thoughts floating though his head like 'I wish just her dress was transparent.' Then he asked "Where do think she's gone?"

"Ershin thinks that Ershin has gone to Caren Parserene the ancient library under the sea of mud." Said Ershin, Deis's host.

"It's Deis, you are Ershin!" a familiar female voice called, scolding her host.

Scais scratched his head,

"G-goddesses…"

And so Ryu continued his march, his urgent quest to save the wyndian princess (and having a feeling of Déjà vu) hoping it would not have such bad consequences as the last.

Past the grimy, the posh, the colorful houses he went, following the instructions of the map, which currently resided in his hand, striding forward,

Forward, Forward, Forward.

Then… he stopped.

Why not use his shift ability again, he swiftly bashed himself over the head for his foolishness, then thinking he was turning into Fou-Lu for that choice of word, and then disappeared in a flash.

… Then reappeared in front of a moldy slimy gray building.

"Well, this place needs a makeover…" he noted as climbed the slippy dull steps to Crestville.

"I'm here, and I'm coming for you… Nina."