Chapter 8: The True Face of Chaos

"Where is Torrent?" the wolf growled in a deep threatening voice. "I must destroy him."

"You'll have to kill me before I'll ever tell you or Chaos where my brother is!" Clara spat vehemently as the wolf leapt at her and bit into her arm.

"I do not work for that old peace loving fool! Discord is my master pathetic young weakling!" the wolf snarled as Clara threw him down to the ground.

"Nevertheless you will not live to torture my family and friends!" Clara screamed in an enraged voice as she held her hands above her head and prepared to attack with her sure-kill. "For the sake of the future and the greater good I must destroy you! Tears of rage!"

The wolf howled in pain and turned into smoke as the attack engulfed him and as he disappeared, someone appeared that Clara never expected to see again.

Meanwhile Kayla had run until she reached an abandoned alley and as she stood there panting for breath, she remembered the precious little bundle she'd hidden inside her shirt. Carefully she took out the kitten and laughed at his messy orange fur, "It's all right, you're safe now little one. Clara will take care of that demon…"

"MOW!" the kitten cried as it tried to burrow into her shirt again, then looked up at her with his large sea-green eyes.

"That reminds me," Kayla said as she looked into his eyes, "you need a name. How do you like the name Shin?" Almost immediately, the kitten leapt up and licked her face over and over again.

She knew my Japanese name. Does she know it's me? Cye thought as he stopped licking her for a moment and a hilarious puzzled expression came on his face as he realized Kayla had just kissed him on the cheek. Oh well, it's a start.

Clara dropped to her knees as the pain and shock engulfed her. "Chaos, why did you send that demon? We've done nothing to you, and yet still attack us. Why?"

"Discord wanted to see if you could still fight after all these years." Chaos replied as he turned to face the horizon.

"I don't believe you! Now tell me the truth, or I shall become extremely angry with you!" Clara said as she raised her voice and lunged at the tall gray robed figure. "Where is Cye of the Torrent?"

"Your brother is safe, and you should know better than to waste your energy like that." Chaos chided as she slowly pulled herself to a standing position. "If you must know where he is, concentrate hard enough and you can find him. But know this first; the only reason I stole your body was to bring you and Rowen together, the same is true for Kayla and Cye. For you see, your love for each other can change the future and unless they are brought together there is no hope for the future."

"It can't be that bad can it?" Clara asked as Chaos slowly turned to face her.

"Just remember that the future of everyone you hold dear is at stake," Chaos said as he walked past her and started to fade away. "and that more than one life depends on your survival. I will be watching you, Tenshi no Kibou…"

"That was very strange," Clara mused to herself as she focused all of her mental energies on trying to find Cye and Kayla. "and yet I sensed he was telling the truth. Maybe I can trust him, but I shall keep an eye out for Discord."

"Clara there you are!" Kayla cried out as she ran forward holding Shin in the crook of her arm. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm okay," Clara said as she tried her best to ignore the dull pain in her chest.

"That's good to hear," Kayla said as she gently slipped her arm around Clara's waist and helped her walk. "but you must be hungry. It's been three hours since we had breakfast, and that chase really got my appetite going."

"Ok, you win!" Clara laughed as she let Kayla help her walk. "Let's go eat! We can look for Cye later…"