"I told you you'd be up all night! Don't think I'm going to slow down for you," Kratos informed me coldly, in an annoyed tone he hadn't used with me in months.

I stared at him as he slammed his pack to the floor, yanked it open, and started shoving various pieces of equipment in it. He seemed to be in quite a hurry to leave, and quite angry. "What is your problem, Kratos?" I demanded.

"My problem-" shove "-is that you-" ziiiiip "-forced me to do something last night that I did not want to do!"

"It was just one dance!" I snapped, exasperated with his sudden hostile behavior. "And I didn't force you to do anything! Might I add it seemed like you were perfectly content, until you stormed off!"

He gave a sharp, unamused laugh as he lifted his pack. "You were the one content, not me. Hurry up, we're already behind schedule due to your sleeping in."

This was ridiculous; I was furious with him, and my mouth worked quite a bit faster than my head did. "I don't think I want to travel with you when you're like this!" I snapped. "Calm down or just leave without me!"

He stared at me for several moments, then, with an almost mocking calmness, unclipped his money pouch from his belt and tossed it to the floor between us. "That should be enough to buy yourself provisions," he stated in a mockingly sweet, pious tone. "Goodbye, Anna."

Slam.

At the sound of the door I threw myself down on the bed, buried my face in the pillow, and cried harder than I can ever remember crying. Once my tears had dried themselves out, I was left laying there, stunned. After everything we'd been through, I couldnt' believe he'd storm off because of one lousy dance. Did something happen after I'd left? Of course. That had to be it. He'd be back to apologize and tell me what happened, and then everything would be okay again.

Except he didn't come back that day. Or the next. And Noishe was gone, too.

The third day I caught the ship back to Izoold. The inn was a drain on the funds Kratos gave me and it was obvious, then, that he wasn't going to come back. He did leave because of one lousy dance.

I wasn't worried about my safety. I knew how to use my dagger, it was how I escaped from the ranch- by using my fork as a weapon. I'd stop in the towns as I passed, doing odd jobs to keep enough gald for food and lodging, when I needed it, and my mother gave me money when I passed by Luin.

Several months had passed, as well as several stops in Hima. I discovered that I rather liked Hima; it was quiet and it had a killer view. As I paid for a room in the inn, I considered how much I dreaded sightseeing when I first became a fugitive. Now this little hamlet was my favorite spot because of the sightseeing. It was ironic.

I went up to my room and deposited my belongings, then decided to visit the tiny restaurant attached to the inn. Aside from a vendor outside, these were the only businesses in Hima, as well as the only building. All of the residents of the village were employees of either the inn or the restaurant; and they made the best hot chocolate.

I stepped through the doorway leading to the restaurant and stopped, my heart thudding as I spotted an auburn haired man nursing a drink, wearing purple and gazing out the window he sat beside. He looked like he was daydreaming. Fighting back a giggle at the thought of Kratos daydreaming, I moved to retreat back to my room, but it was too late. Kratos saw me, and very quickly and pointedly turned his gaze back to the window.

Fine then. If you're going to play games, I'll play, too. Resolutely, I strode into the restaurant to the bar and ordered a hot chocolate. Upon receipt of the drink I paid and took a seat at a table opposite Kratos, across the room, where we both examined every inch of our surroundings except each other.

Abruptly, so suddenly it startled me, Kratos rose, walked to the bar, and put his glass on it. Then he took a seat at a table directly across from mine and glared venomously at the table beside me. It was enough to make me look in that direction; a group of men, none of which looked the least bit decent, were leering at me.

One of them spoke in a quiet tone to the others, and, returning Kratos' glower, rose and left the room. Kratos looked towards the window and the moment he saw them walking away, he also rose, hand on his sword hilt, and left with one last undecipherable look at me. I suspected that he just saved me from a rather unpleasant fate, but my ungrateful mind simply miffed that they were going in the direction I was going to be going.

Curiosity was another emotion I was feeling quite acutely at that moment, and after several minutes it finally won out and I left as well, wandering in the direction that the hoodlums and Kratos had gone. I walked for quite a bit, frowning to myself. Perhaps I'd been mistaken, and he wasn't following them.

"Look out!"

Kratos' scream came two seconds too late; I reached for my dagger but my arms were pulled roughly behind my back, forcing me to my knees. I managed a look up at Kratos coming from behind a bush, sword drawn, before the man kneed me in the back and I fell forward, reeling from the pain.

Blood spilled, coupled with a sickening gurgle from my attacker, and two of the hoodlums were on Kratos. I stumbled to my feet and drew my dagger, stabbing one of the gangsters in the back while Kratos ran the third through. A fourth one grabbed me from behind; Kratos' sword came down hard at my shoulder and I screamed, only to be thoroughly disgusted when the man's arm fell off at the elbow. He let out a scream of agony of his own before Kratos put him out of his misery.

Kratos and I stared at each other, panting, before I frowned and snapped, "I did't need your help!"

"Good," he replied in an equally annoyed voice, "because I wasn't helping you!"

"It certainly looked like it!"

"Well, I wasn't! They've been harassing travellers in Hima for weeks, and the innkeeper wanted them gone."

"So I suppose if you weren't getting paid, you would have let them kill me?"

"Probably," he replied with a sudden calmness and a shrug.

My temper boiled. "You-"

A crisp, urgent bark pierced the air. "Noishe!" Kratos snapped, turning to the creature. "I told you to stay in Hi-" Noishe barked again, louder and more urgent, and Kratos spun around and dove at me. I opened my mouth to demand what he was doing, but I didn't have time to as he shoved me aside and a crossbow bolt lodged in his shoulder where the center of my back was a second ago.

He barely grunted in pain, but collapsed to one knee; I lunged at the leftover attacker with a shriek of fury and dispatched him, then dropped the dagger and ran to Kratos. "Are you okay!" I yelled as he leaned forward, limp.

"Stop... ye...lling..."

I blinked at him. "Why?" A rumble from the mountains told me why almost as soon as I'd gotten the word out; I looked up in horror to see very large boulders bounding down at us at a very fast pace. All the screaming that had been done in the fight had caused a landslide, and we were right in the path of it.

Kratos righted himself, scanning the mountainside we were against, and then wrapped his arms forcefully around me and half-dove, half-dragged me into a small indentation in the mountain wall, screaming at Noishe to run. All this happened in seconds; and then the rocks were on us. We didn't quite make it to the indentation; a large rock struck Kratos in the head and he fell forward, moving to wrap his arms around my head and covering my body with his. Thunder from the landslide deafened me, and then I was engulfed in utter darkness. I barely had time to acknowledge that Kratos was out cold on top of me before I passed out myself.


I hissed, unable to hold back the pain from that particular blow; I would be surprised if my jaw wasn't broken. Across from me, held on her knees by three Desians, Anna was screaming my name hysterically, and that bastard Kvar held my son in a mockingly tender embrace as he echoed his mother's hysteria.

"Are you ready to return that Exsphere to me now, Anna?" Kvar asked in a painfully gentle voice.

"Don't," I gasped, indeed surprised that I could move my mouth freely. "Don't you give him that Exsphere, An-AH!" I screamed in surprise more than pain as one of the Desians holding me down touched his burning torch to my arm.

"How much more can we torture him before you'll cooperate?" Kvar asked in a sad tone. Good cop, bad cop, he was trying to get her to believe he really wasn't enjoying this, sadistic freak that he really was. The look of sadness deepend as he looked at Lloyd. "It would be such a pity if such a lovely baby were to get hurt because of his parents stupidity, don't you agree?"

"NO!" I shrieked in a voice I didn't know I had, wrenching away from my guards with strength I thought long gone, and lunged at Kvar with a ferocity I hadn't experienced in a millenium. Unfortunately, Kvar had more men than I had stamina and I found myself driven to my knees again, kicked hard in the face as Kvar laughed cruelly. "If you hurt my son, Kvar, I swear I'll-"

"You swear you'll what, Papa Bear?" he mocked. "It doesn't look like you can do much of anything!" He looked from me to Anna and back, and then to Lloyd and brought his free hand to my son's throat...

"Stop!" Anna howled, her head bowed. "I-I'll do it! Please don't hurt my baby!"

Kvar let go before his fingers had barely brushed Lloyd's neck, looking at me. "And your objection, Lord Kratos?" I ignored the insult and simply bowed my head in submission as well. They could hurt me. I could stand them hurting Anna, even, but not my child. "Very well. Release her. Anna, come to me; if you make one false breath, your son dies. Understood?"

Anna nodded weakly and the guards let her stand, and she stepped forward. "Anna," I whispered, hoping she heard me; I couldn't bring myself to speak louder. She stopped and lifted her face slightly, as did I. I managed a tiny, sickly smile as I said, "I wanted you to know that I love your laugh."

I didn't have an opportunity to see her response. The guard seized my hair and thrust the burning torch at my back...

Red.

Kratos dropped the knife in surprise, staring at his bloodied hand. "Oh dear goddess!" Kerina exclaimed, reaching for a clean towel and snatching Kratos' hand. "I told you you'd hurt yourself! Now look!" Kerina dabbed gingerly at the wound; Kratos didn't move, just stared at it. "You got yourself good, it looks like. We should clean-" she stopped as she noticed that he was shaking, wide-eyed, and sighed. "Here, come on. I'll walk you back to your room. Mom 'n Dad'll have fits if something happens to you. They're rather attached to you," she said, wrapping the hand in the towel.

She guided him to the room; "Here we are," she said softly, reaching for the doorknob.

Kratos shook his head and put his own on it before she could. "I'm fine," he told her quietly. "Thank you."

Kerina set him with a doubtful look, but stepped back. "If that don't stop bleeding, go get Mom. She knows the city healer." Kratos nodded and waited for her to leave before opening the door and entering, stopping short just as he was about to shut the door, staring.

Yuan stared back, then saw the towel wrapped around his hand. "Are you okay?"

"No," Kratos replied darkly. "Leave."

"I-"

"Now."

Yuan's expession changed to one of concern. "What's wrong?"

"'What's wrong'?" Kratos replied incredulously, not believing his ears. What manner of mind-game was this?

The concerned expression deepened. "Mithos said you were ready to return to Derris-Kharlan. He sent me to-"

"To retrieve me?" Kratos burst out in a fit of bitter laughter; Yuan's eyes widened in surprise. The laughter died rather quickly and Kratos narrowed his eyes at the other Seraphim, shaking in barely supressed rage. "You can tell Mithos that he can take that giant rock and shove it straight up-"

"What the hell?" Yuan cut him off. "Kratos, you're scaring me! You never talk like this!"

"I am now, aren't I?"

"Yes, and that's why I'm worried!" Yuan spread his hands in an almost-pleading gesture. "What's going on? Where's Anna and Lloyd?"

"Like you don't know!"

"I don't!"

Eyebrows raised; "He really didn't tell you?" Yuan shook his head, bewildered by his old friend's behavior; Kratos started to answer a few times and failed. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he finally managed, weakly, "They're dead."

Yuan paled, and remained silent. Kratos realized that his friend's silence was questioning, and answered what was unspoken, "Anna became ill from her Exsphere. I was taking her to the dwarf at Iselia to ask him to make her a Key crest; Kvar found us there. He must have been visiting the Iselia ranch."

"Did Forcystus help with this?" Yuan asked quietly.

Kratos shook his head. "I do not know why. It was only Kvar and his men."

After another moment of silence, Yuan asked, "And her Exsphere?"

"Lost, as far as I know."

"A small, bitter comfort," Yuan murmmured. "Kratos, I'm so sorry." The other Seraph gave no response. "I'm leaving. I will not attempt to take you against your will, Mithos knows this. He has some explaining to do."

Yuan left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him; Kratos looked up at the cracked mirror, at his reflection, meeting his own eyes.

The eyes of a dead man.

With that thought, Kratos burst into laughter as insanity threatened him...