Friends…Old and New…

Prontera Kafra Station, Prontera, just after Chapter 10

Kafra Receptionist Diana opened up box no.101, handing it to the Swordsman. The Swordsman handed her forty zeny, hurrying off to a corner, unloading the tiny box's contents. Diana sighed, patting away dust from her apron.

It has been six years since she joined the Kafra Cooperation. Everyday was a similar routine to any other day. Open storage boxes, teleport people around places, making sure the deceased are respawned safely back to the city and a whole lot of other things. Was that all there was to Diana's life?

"Mew, mew!"

The kitten in Diana's pocket started fumbling around. It was sleeping peacefully a minute ago, now what did it want? Diana took out the little rascal, letting it trash in her palm. Why did she have to take care of the little pussy? Auril should have given it to Joy, the Kafra in Northern Prontera…she doesn't get as busy as Diana…

"Alright, alright, I'll get you something to munch on," Diana said, putting the feline on the ground. She opened up her personal storage box, pulling out some pet food tearing off small bits of it. She fed it to the kitten, letting it devour the meat unceremoniously, thanking Diana by wagging its little tail back and forth rapidly.

'How can anything be so hyper?' Diana thought to herself, 'and why would Auril want a kitten anyway? He's more accustomed to killing animals then to raising them…'

Her thoughts were interrupted when a man approached her.

"Excuse me, I'd like to open box no.455," the man said. He was wearing a large muffler, burn marks and holes marking constant abuse. Diana sighed, asking the man to be patient while she went to retrieve it.

Fumbling through the boxes, she found what she was looking for. Just as she was about to turn back to the man, a voice from behind called, "Don't move and nobody gets hurt." She could feel a small prick on her back as the man's dagger touched her uniform.

'Oh shoot, not again,' Diana thought. The man pushed his dagger a little harder, nudging Diana forward. Even as her heart raced, Diana's mind was still calm.

'Alright, Kafra Rule 117, in case of an assault or a hold up, you are authorized to use any means necessary to annihilate the threat,' Her mind wove through her Kafra Manual, then into the sage class she attended before joining Kafra Corps, 'Earth Spike, earth attribute magic. Casting it requires great skill, chanting the following text at the bottom of the page. Focus on the object you desire to cast the spell on, thinking about the ground at the same time and what shape you desire to manipulate it into, preferably into spikes. Release 400 runes mana into the ground. If done correctly, the spell should take effect and the earth will change into the shape you have thought of.'

Having rehearsed the spell, she let the man help himself to the boxes. Silently, she replaced her hair band with a ribbon; a magically enhanced one. She chanted the words, but no sound came out. Her ribbon had taken effect.

She continued chanting, thinking hard about the man and the spikes she was about to conjure up.

The man, too busy indulging in the treasure cove of goods, never noticed Diana. He sifted through the boxes, emptying their contents into a bag. A little more before the spell is complete…

The man notices a strange humming noise coming from Diana. He turns around dagger drawn. But it was too late. Diana released the spell, sending a surge of mana into the ground. Dark brown spikes suddenly rise from the ground, impaling the man and lifting him into the air.

The man was beaten, but not defeated. He hacked away the spike holding him, pulling them out of his body. Large gaping holes were left in his body, dripping wet with blood and revealing his innards.

Unbelievable, someone was able to survive that blow? What's more, the man seemed to be chanting…

The ground below Diana seemed to dissolve. Then, suddenly, huge spikes protruded from the earth and struck Diana. Most of the spikes missed Diana, but one went straight through her arm.

"W-what? That was the same spell I cast just now…" Diana looked closer at the man. "He's a rogue…a very powerful one…" Diana whispered to herself. It was unmistakeable that it was the rogue's Plagiarism skill.

Diana wrenched her arm out of the spike, clutching the wound tight. She let mana flow into it, knitting her arm back into its original state. But the rogue wasn't about to leave Diana alone. He melted into the ground, blending into the environment. Shoot, he used his hiding skill…

Recalling her memories again, Diana rehearsed the Sight Skill, 'Sight, fire attribute magic. Focus on the area around you. Release mana into the area, manipulating the mana into a die cast of the area. If a hidden object is present, the mana will be attracted and concentrated onto it, revealing its location.'

Diana summoned her energy again, spewing mana into the area. A large concentration of the mana spawned behind her, indicating the rogue's position…

…behind her?

The rogue rematerialized behind Diana, dagger in hand. Before she could do anything, the rogue stabbed Diana just below her neck. Pain surged through her, making her flinch. The rogue lost his grip on the dagger, leaving it sticking out of Diana's back. Cursing under his breath, the Rogue paced away from Diana, and then started chanting again. This time, Diana was ready. She conjured up a counter spell, overriding the Rogue's spell with a surge of Mana, then reabsorbing the mana back into her.

Surprised for a second, the rogue blinked uselessly at Diana. Without hesitation, Diana pulled out the dagger from her back, throwing it back at the rogue. The rogue raised his buckler, letting the dagger ricochet off it. Even without his weapon, the rogue charged at Diana, reaching into his pocket. Diana cast a safety wall around her, bracing for an impact. But all she saw was a blinding flash and the rogue disappeared again.

Tch. At least he left his bag behind. Just when Diana was about to pick it up, a gruesome sight lay a few feet from the bag.

Auril's cat had been struck by the dagger.

'Aw man, now Auril's gonna kill me,' Diana thought, removing the dagger from the kitten. It lay sprawled on the floor, a huge hole in its stomach visible. It wasn't breathing either. Just blood flowing out of its miserable corpse. 'Poor thing, you don't deserve anything like this…'

She dumped the kitten into the nearest rubbish bin, taking off her bloodstained gloves. 'Oh well, Auril never cared much for animals anyway,' Diana went back to the storage boxes, sorting items back into their proper boxes.

Glast Heim Prison, Glast Heim

The Owl Baron grinned at the sight of the undressed girl whimpering on the floor. Alice has just been resurrected from her last torture. Looks like the Injustices were too eager to hurt her.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little slave girl, coming back from the dead. How did it feel, having half your skin torn off your body?"

Alice said nothing, whimpering in the memory of the pain. The Owl Baron flew toward her, grabbing Alice by her hair. "This time, I'll personally escort you to the Torture chamber. The injustices make you suffer so slowly that it makes me bored. I'm taking things", the Owl Baron's grin grew even wider, "into my own hands."

Alice just continued to sob, ignoring the Owl Baron's words.

"Very well then, if you want me to hurry up, then I shall do so," the Owl Baron dragged Alice toward the torture chamber, still holding her by her hair.

Too painful…too much…can't think straight…it's hopeless…

Alice's mind was blurry, unable to control her own thoughts. Pain surged through her as she felt as if her hair was about to be yanked off.

'Please…no more…' Alice thought to herself. The torturing had made her nerves overloaded, losing control of her body. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move, but she could still feel, the Owl Baron made sure of that. She could only watch as the torturing goes on.

As the Injustices strapped her into a new machine, Alice tried to thrash out of the thing. It was no use. Her body wouldn't respond to her mind…it felt like you were trapped in a shell, unable to get out.

'No…' she thought desperately, 'please no more…I'm sorry I ran away…I should have never done it…just leave me alone…I'll clean Glast Heim again, please let me go…no, please don't do this…no…no…NO!'

The Owl Baron pulled a lever slightly, watching as Alice was stabbed with a thousand needles, all in the specific points of her body that hurt most.

Alice let out a long mental scream, her still not responding to her. The pain was too great…she felt like she was about to explode…

'Somebody…help me…'

Then, the pain lessened. The needles were drawn out of her. Was it a miracle? Has someone come to save her?

The Owl Baron hung over her, scrutinizing her.

"Humph. Watching you suffer isn't enough. I want you to scream. I want to hear you scream. I want to see you trash desperately as I put as much pain as possible into you. I want to hear your pleas for mercy. It'll make this little stay in the torture chamber all the more enjoyable to me."

With that, Alice felt her body come back to life. She could move herself again, but it was no use. She was already strapped onto the needle machine. She tried to break the bonds holding her, but it was useless. It won't budge.

"Now, let the fun begin," and the Owl Baron pulled the lever once more.

"No…please…no more…no…AHHHH! NO! PLEASE! I BEG YOU! NO! HELP ME! HELP ME!"

The needles re-entered Alice's body, this time even deeper then before. They kept going deeper and deeper, until the needles came out from the other end of her body.

Alice squirmed even more desperately, only to further increase the pain the needles were causing. Tiny trickles of blood flowed into her eye as one needle hit her skull. She closed her eyes, hoping that this would all be over soon.

'Let it stop…just let me die…'

The needles stopped moving again. They released themselves from Alice, lessening the pain again. What did the Owl Baron want this time? Was it to increase her pain? Or did he just want to see how badly he hurt her?

But the most peculiar thing happened. The bonds released Alice, letting her slump onto the floor. She tried to get up, but the puncture wounds on her made it painful. Even lying down was painful. Then, a shadow covered her in darkness. The person who made the shadow drenched her in an orange liquid, making Alice feel cold. She got up, hugging herself for warmth. The water was so cold…she felt numb for a second…

…what happened to the pain?

She looked at her arms. Nothing, not even a scar to indicate her last torture. She was healed…

She looked up at whoever was standing beside her. An assassin with spiky white hair looked at Alice with cold, blue eyes. In one hand, he held a bottle of orange potion. In his other hand held a bloodstained Grimtooth.

"Humph, of all the people to survive, it had to be you," the assassin muttered. He gave Alice what was left of the orange potion. "Drink this, it'll help."

Alice took the bottle from the assassin silently, sipping the potion bit by bit. Small pains stabbing her insides started to fade away, her aching body relaxed as all the discomforts disappeared.

"Umm…thank you…sir…" Alice whispered, but the assassin apparently heard her.

"Don't call me sir; I'll kill you if you do," the assassin was silent for a moment, then continued, "call me Turamii."

"Yes, sir…I mean, Turamii…"

Turamii gave Alice a lift up, bringing her up onto her feet. From this point, Alice could see the Owl Baron's corpse on the floor, his head was caved in; the only trace of how he died was a boot print in the deepest part his face caved in.

"Don't look. I'll kill you too if you puke anywhere near my assassin outfit."

Alice just nodded, following Turamii out the door…

FWAP!

Another Injustice fell to the floor as an arrow penetrated its soft skin. Damn, missed its head again.

Clover took out another arrow, expecting another Injustice to come around the corner. Nothing.

Still alert, Clover continued to scan the area. If another of those eyeless dudes ever came close to the room she was guarding ever again…

Shumi flew back from her patrol, perching herself gently onto Clover's shoulders. She nipped Clover's hair gently, indicating that she found nothing too. Clover rewarded her by petting her falcon's head, feeling its soft feathers run through her fingers. It was so soft that it made you forget your troubles for once…

"Slacking off aren't you?" a cold voice came from behind Clover. Turamii approached noiselessly, Alice following closely behind him.

"I…I wasn't slacking! My falcon just came back, and I reward her by stroking her…"

"Cut the chatter, we've got what we wanted and now we're leaving."

Clover's face became red with anger, but she didn't dare retort. Not to an assassin from the Abyss Legion.

Even though he was very soft, Clover's trained ear could hear Turamii ranting to himself very clearly, "Tch, Valentine sends a report that he's failed his search here. Now Auril wants this stupid girl retrieved, and of all the people, he had to send US to get her butt out of this dump…"

"He sent us because he believed we could do it!" Clover cried out suddenly.

Turamii stared at her with his cold, blue eyes. He stopped in his tracks, drawing his katar.

"Stop eavesdropping me, or it's your head," he threatened.

"Humph, I can't stop myself from NOT hearing you. I've been trained to be acute at hearing."

"Then let me cut your ears off for you." Turamii raised his katar, only to be confronted by a silver tipped arrow.

"I'm warning you, one wrong move and it's an arrow through your head!" Clover drew her bow, the arrow she was holding pulled back on her bow.

Turamii lowered his weapon, mumbling to himself, "Tch, if Grace didn't put that probe on me, I would've killed this little hunter slut with my slowest working poison…"

Clover heard him, but didn't say anything. She just looked away from him, turning her attention to Alice instead.

"So, you're Alice…and what happened to your clothes? Did Turamii rape you?" Turamii had his hand on the hilt of his Grimtooth. "Anyway, here; it's my old dress, but it'll do for the time being." Clover took out a blue one piece dress from her bag, handing it to Alice. "We're about the same height, so I think it'll be your size.

Alice took it shyly, putting it on with slow grace. The dress was just a little too short for her, but it was alright. Clover clapped her hands together, squealing in joy, "Wah, you look so cute in that! I wish I was as good looking in that, I envy you…"

"T-thank you…"

"…shut up, somebody's coming" Turamii snapped.

He melted into the wall, cloaking himself to hide his position.

"Argh! He's running away! Can you believe it? Leave it to lil ol' me to fight…"

The rattling of chains grew louder as an Injustice came within sight of Clover. She took out her bow, drawing an arrow in the direction of the Injustice…

The Injustice was only eight feet away from her. She'd have enough time to fire one arrow before the Injustice came too close. She had to make a perfect shot…

The Injustice's head flopped to the ground, the body still in a standing position. It tumbled down soon after Turamii gave it a kick from behind. "Small fry," Turamii mumbled.

Clover relaxed the string of her bow. She put back the arrow into its sheath, lowering her bow to a neutral position.

"So, you weren't running after all…" Turamii's katar came up to Clover's throat. "I. Never. Run."

Clover gulped, nodding slightly as Turamii withdrew his blade once more. This guy was creepy, ever since Clover came near him, he radiated the coldest aura Clover ever felt. He was the bane of the circus.

Alice watched intently. It was strange…somebody as cold as Turamii saving her…it just didn't feel…right. But he must have taken out his bloodlust on Clover, poor thing, being picked on like that. At least it kept Alice's thoughts further away from the torturing she's been through just now...Alice kept her head down, pretending nothing happened.

Zephyrus peered at Sing's corpse, his blood was overlapped by the Baphomet's own blood. A tiny package caught his eye, and he picked it up. "For…Auril?"

Auril couldn't shake off the feeling. It felt as if something was about to happen…something in the Churchyard didn't feel right…