Disclaimer: Well, I surely wish I owned Suikoden III, now that I've beaten it, with the 108 stars bonus ::big smile:: But, that, will not ever happen .

Reviewers:

MotherOcean- Thanks, I think. I truly have no interest in that at all, so I'll just leave it be… Perhaps…

Moon Dusk- Well, thank you too. More descriptive eh? I'll try, although, it's been several months sense I've written a fic… Why are you afraid of OC romances? Besides, I said it was a maybe, not a positive… I'm not sure if I even want to do it -

Salacassera- Ok, I'm glad I've gotten your interest thus far.

Cathy 7- Thanks. Oh yes, you shall see what happens : )

Shadow's Abyss

Chapter 1-C Thomas: The Strange Visitor

Thomas walked out into the courtyard, just a few days after Hugo, Chris, and Geddoe had left, and stopped by the fountain. He looked into the water, and leaned down to better inspect the kois that had been put into the fountain for some reason by a visiting duck.

He saw several koi, to many to really count. One he saw of paticular interest seemed to be the largest one. It was maybe the size of his fist if clentch up, and as long as the point from the tip of his fingers, to the last bone in his wrist. The fish has dull blue-gray scales, with white speckles dotting all over the body. The dorsal and tail fins are light pink, and it has a single red stripe running along each side of the fish, starting from behind the eye, and ending just a few centimeters shy of the tail.

He stood back up to realize that Cecile was talking to someone that had come up to the castle gates. He walked across the damp grass, which had grown exceptionally long within the past few months, and so, he felt the ends of his trousers become damp while he walked. He paid no attention to this, however.

The person that was being literally interviewed by Cecile wears a long, black cloak. The hood is down, and the woman under the robes shook out her silvery-blue colored hair, and blinked as Cecile droned on and on about something of this castle being free trade area. The woman has pale skin, and rather large, brown eyes. Long, pointed ears poked out of her wavy hair, indicating she is of the Elven heritage.

"Hem, uhm, I am looking for the Master of this Castle… Er… Excuse me?" The elf was trying to get Cecile's attention, but she had turned around and ran off to meet with a boy about her age, with brown hair and eyes. The elf walked after Cecile, hoping she would run into the castle master after this.

"Cecile! Why did you just leave her waiting?" Thomas asked, but looked up and saw the elf coming toward them. "Er, uh, s-sorry Master T-Thomas," Cecile said quickly, bowing her head in regret. "That's ok, Cecile."

The elf stopped right before smacking into Cecile, and cocked her head to the side. "Uh… Excuse me, would you be able to direct me to the Master of this castle?" Thomas side-stepped, and stepped infront of the elf. "I am Thomas, master of the Vey-Ryu Castle. Have you come to open up a shop…?"

The elf chuckled slightly, "Oh, no, not I. I've come to stay for awhile, so I may visit a friend that said she had came to this… unusual castle. You don't mind, do you?" Thomas shook his head, "No, of course not. Who is your friend? If you don't mind my asking," he said curiously, tilting his head. "Oh, ah, her name is Nei…" "Oh! You mean the Elf performer?" Cecile asked loudly, smiling. The elf nodded her head. "Yes. I'll be going now."

Thomas nodded, and watched as the elf, clad in black, walked off towards the castle. The elf stopped by the fountain and bent down, taking in a look at the fish. She held her hand out over the water. Her hand started to glow a pale purplish color, and the magic seemingly zapped the water. By this time, Thomas had already turned around and was listening to Cecile talk about something or another.

The elf stood up, satisfied, and walked away towards the castle.

Rain clouds started to form over the castle once again. The dark gray clouds threatened bad weather with a crack of lightning, and the pound of thunder. Cecile looked up at the sky, and blinked as a raindrop fell on the skin between her eyes. "I don't think anyone else will come today, Cecile," Thomas stated, turning his head towards her, "Why don't you come inside so you won't catch anything?"

Cecile turned toward him, and frowned slightly. She stamped her spear on the grass, which was continually becoming wetter and wetter, and firmly declined. "I have my duties…" "But Cecile, I don't want you to catch a cold. The thunder storm might get to big, please come inside." Cecile sighed softly, and shivered as the rain hailed down upon them suddenly. "B-but," she said shakily, her skin getting colder thanks to the wind that had suddenly picked up. "Cecile," Thomas said sternly, grabbing her hand, and squeezing it slightly, "I doubt anything will wander up to the castle in this weather, unless it is some form of aqua monster."

"Oh! Then I must watch out for those!" She said suddenly, standing straight and pulling her hand away. "… Please, Cecile? Don't make me drag you inside…" Cecile turned around, and looked him in the eye. "Are you sure nothing will appear?" She said, a look of uncertainty plastered on her face. "Um… Yes," Thomas nodded his head slowly, feeling a twinge of pain in his stomach, making him feel like that wasn't the answer. Cecile nodded slowly, unsure of this "Okay…"

She marched off, Thomas in close pursuit. He hoped to get out of the rain as soon as possible.

Thomas and Cecile walked into the entrance hall of the castle, Cecile clanking her way towards the stairs. She stopped, and turned around. "Are you going back to your old bedroom? Or is that still for the Flame Champion?" She asked curiously, her head tilted. "Oh, he let me have the bedroom back. So, I won't have to walk through more rain to get to the ship," he said, nodding. "Oh, ok!"

The both of them went separate ways, Cecile into the tavern to see if Nei and her friends we playing their instruments, and Thomas up to his bedroom.

Thunder crackled in the sky almost all day. When night had come, the clouds finally dissipated, and the wet grass shone slightly under the moonlight. The water in the fountain, which was located in the courtyard, began to glow a dim purple color. Much like the color of the magic the elf had cast much earlier that day and the water started to gurgle.

The purple hue faded slowly, and out of the water, rose a strange form. One of the koi had taken a humanoid form. The slender body and thing limbs suggest that it is possibly female, but the chest was flat, and the creature was covered in blue-gray scales. The head is more crocodilian than fish-like, except the creature has no teeth. A light pink, dorsal-like fin ran down it's back, and ended near were the tailbone would be. The legs are long, and end in a flopped out fin, much like a merperson's fin would be. The arms of the creature rubbed it's neck, and found that there were no gills. It gasped out for air, finding out it has another way to breathe now.

(A/N: o.O I know it seems a bit like the fish-people in Suiko IV, but I swear, I had made up this particular character before I even knew about the previous Suikodens)

Ok, how was this? I'm sorry it's.. LATE, but I've been uberly busy X-X