Disclaimer: I do not own Baten Kaitos, Lyude, Vallye, Skeed, or any of the other characters. They belong to Namco, not me.

Part One:

As I cowered in the darkness of the alley, I hoped dearly that they wouldn't find me. I could not let that happen, not this time. Kalas and the others were not with me now, not since we had parted ways. But there was no way I'd survive alone. All I could do was flee and hide.

I heard the sound of footsteps on the near street and froze. They passed by and I breathed out a sigh of relief, but just as I did, I heard them stop and come back, headed right in my direction. I pressed myself up against the wall as hard as I could, hoping that the darkness would be enough to cover me. The footsteps came slowly nearer, moving back and forth across the alley, searching. And then, as they came not three feet from where I hid, came the voices, angry and frustrated, that belonged to them. "Where is he?" hissed one voice as the figure it belonged to stepped into my view. Skeed.

And then another dark silhouette appeared, that of my sister. "He's here somewhere. I can feel his presence, the wretched worm," she answered, her eyes searching.

I swallowed hard and prayed desperately that she would not see me. Like a child, I shut my eyes tight, hoping that somehow, that would hide me from her gaze. For a moment, I sensed her eyes on me. Had she seen me there, hiding in the shadows?

I dared to open my eyes and saw with relief her gaze staring further down the alley. "He must be down that way," I heard her say and to my disbelief, she and Skeed disappeared deeper into the dark.

Now was my chance. I had to flee before they returned this way. I bolted out of the alleyway and began running towards the city's edge, toward the ocean where I could stow away on an outgoing ship. The entire way, I hoped that my siblings had not heard me fleeing the alley. I took a quick glance over my shoulder and saw no one but ordinary citizens walking about, minding their own business. Good. I might just get away after all and I can't believe it.

They had been hunting me for hours now, pursuing me ruthlessly like desperate scavengers for something to feed on. I didn't even know why they wanted to catch me so badly. All I'd heard was something about a god infinitely more evil than Malpercio and something about making me sing. I had no idea what it all meant, but I knew their intentions were fell.

At last I came to the docks, but there were not ships save for one some leagues away on the open ocean. Oh but that I had Wings of the Heart! For I could have flown to that ship and gone with it. But of course, now that the ocean was returned to us, nobody had wings for none needed them.

Except for me. I needed them. Badly.

I looked behind me again and still did not see either Skeed or Vallye. But what was I going to do? If I stayed on Alfard, it would only be a matter of time before they found me. I could hide somewhere near the docks and wait for a ship, but how long could I hide before I was discovered?

I decided to take a chance and ran for a dark corner between two buildings. Then to my utter despair a woman carrying a heavy basket called out to me: "Hey you! Yes, you with the red hair in the uniform. Do you mind carrying this basket for me? You see, I am an old woman and I'm afraid if I go any further, it'll break my back."

I stopped and went to her with great reluctance. I could only hope Skeed and Vallye weren't anywhere near.

"So will you help me?" the woman said, setting down the basket. "I just need someone to carry it home for me. I don't live far."

"Alright, I'll help you, but I'm rather busy now, so if you don't mind, let us go as quickly as possible," I said as I picked up the basket with some effort. Where were those two anyway? I was glad that they hadn't caught me yet, but somehow their absence unnerved me even more. Surely they would have figured out that I was no longer in that alley by now.

"Thank you, young man," said the woman, but I wasn't really paying attention.

"Yes…uh, sure. Now where's your house?"

"Well, you are in a hurry now, aren't you? Alright then, it's this way. Follow me."

She started down the street and I followed, my eyes frantically searching for my siblings. "You know," said the old woman as we headed right down the same street I'd just fled from. "You have beautiful eyes—as scarlet as the flowers in Anuenue."

"Er…thanks…I suppose. How much further to your house?" I was becoming more nervous by the second. I half expected them to jump out and take me at the end of every alleyway.

"My, you seem flustered! Don't let your business become an obsession or you're going to live your whole life in constant worry like that. That's not good for your health, you know."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw Vallye and Skeed moving in the shadows. "Uh…yeah. Are we there yet?"

The woman laughed. "Don't worry, we're nearly there and then you can get back to whatever it was that you were doing. What is your name, by the way?"

"L-Lyude," I answered and just about slapped myself for giving away my name like that. Yes, fantastic job, Lyude. Just tell people who you are and make it easy for them to find you.

"Lyude, you say? The same Lyude that was involved in the Azha incident?"

"If it pleases you, I would rather not talk about that."

"Ah! So you are him! I thought I knew your face. Well, I won't mention it anymore if you don't want. It's the least I can do since you agreed to carry that basket for me. At any rate, here we are. Let me just open up the door for you," she said as she pulled with quavering hands the keys from a pocket in her dress.

I stood behind her waiting impatiently. I could sense Skeed and Vallye somewhere nearby and if I didn't run now…

"Ha! There you are!" said the woman, startling me, as the lock clicked and the door swung open. "You may set it down over there by the table.."

I nodded and started inside when from somewhere down the street, I heard the call that still to this day makes my heart sink when I remember it: "There you are, you pitiful, good-for-nothing scoundrel! We've been looking for you."

I didn't know what else to do but run, and so I did. "Hey! Wait! What are you doing?" I heard the old woman cry followed by the fast-pursuing footsteps of my brother and sister.

I quickly dashed down the next street, which, to my misfortune, was one of the busiest streets in Mintaka. Vallye and Skeed followed not far behind and, as they had never ceased to find clever ways to torment me, found just the perfect way to catch me. "Stop him!" shouted Skeed above the noise of the crowd and I felt all eyes on me. "He stole that poor old woman's basket!"

It was then that I looked down and saw the basket in my hands. I immediately dropped it as I fled as if I'd been holding a venomous snake, its contents spilling out and scattering everywhere as it rolled across the ground. I barely managed to trip over it, but it did not matter. I would not go much further until I saw a large, burly man directly in my path. By then, it was too late to do anything. Before I knew it, he held me by the wrist with a grip so tight, I felt the circulation leave my hand and it went cold. "Gotcha, you little imperial thief," he growled, a sneer etching itself across his face.

"Well done, my man," Skeed said as he waltzed nonchalantly towards me. The glare and the smug expression on his face was like driving a stake through my heart. I'd been caught, I couldn't believe I'd been caught.