I'm always taking so long to post and I'M SO SORRY!!! A hurricane hit and I was waiting weeks for electricity again. Obviously the gods of fan fiction are trying to stop me from accomplishing my goal but I'M NOT AFRAID OF THEM! Lighting strikes poor little author on head cough... on with the story... cough

Chapter 3: Masks and Past

Dias didn't bother to look at the bandit as he wiped the blood from his sword. They weren't worth the notice in his opinion. They'd attack, thinking they could win against him, and he would kill them. The process was simple... and to him incredibly irritating. They were in his way and weak, and neither thing he held in high regard. He only wished the case had been the same so many years ago.

A small sigh brought him from his musing and brought his gaze to Rei who was wiping the sweat out of her eyes. The bandits at her feet were bleeding but only from busted noses and so forth. They were all unconscious, not like the thieves that had been slashed to death by the sharpness of his blade. She turned to him and gave that smile of hers to him. It was a strange sort of smile; something he hadn't noticed when he had first met her. She was almost always smiling but he had only finally noticed it after about a day in her company.

Her smile had a sad note to it. As if she was trying to hide a pain from the world in it. He had only seen it because...well, he didn't know why. He supposed maybe it was because he put on his own mask to keep his pain inside as well.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, again breaking him of his thoughts.

"Fine, the enemies weren't much to think of," he replied.

"Not what I meant," she said. "You just seem to have a question in your eyes. Is there something you want to ask?"

"Why don't you don't kill?" he asked. He had been pondering that and he didn't want to say that he had been thinking about her smile.

Rei seemed to be caught off guard by this question. Her eyes widened and her mouth let out a little gasp. She quickly turned away and looked at the red sunset. At first Dias thought she wouldn't answer but then her voice came out in a small way.

"I don't think it should be used when it can be avoided. There is so much hurt in the world without simply adding more." She whispered her answer, as if speaking to loud would cause the world around her to break.

Dais looked at her back as she began to walk off.

"Mars is still a ways away. We should get going before it gets dark," she said and he followed, knowing now not to ask next time.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled. He wasn't surprised to see it. The angle of her lips had so much fake happiness that he doubted that even little Precis wouldn't have caught it. But it was her mask and he would not disturb it again.

"We should get going a bit quicker."

"Fine," he said.

It was dark when Dias and Rei reached the village but Celine still seemed to recognize Dias from her window and came running down to him from her house. The great gold ringlet always following the sorceress looked to be having trouble keeping up as she ran full-force towards him. She stopped in front of him and started to talk even though she should have been winded from sprinting in high heels.

"Oh Darling, it's so good to see you again," she exclaimed. "I was wondering if you were going it make it in time. Just imagine not seeing Rena's wedding! I was going in just a few short days. Rena told me that she had sent somebody looking for you. A few people really. As much as you travel just one person probably just wouldn't be enough. So who found-"

She had looked to Rei on Dias' side and her mouth nearly fell open. "R... Rei Dear, wh-what in the world are you doing here?"

"You know each other?" he asked as he looked from the flabbergasted Celine to the suddenly cold looking Rei.

"You could call it that. We haven't talked in years really." Her tone was as cold as ice and left a message that clearly said she didn't wish to discuss it further. "Dias, I'll be in the inn. I suppose I'll meet you latter."

"Come now, Dear. Please stay at my house for the night. It's been just forever. Surely it would be best to clear the air a bit," Celine said hopefully.

"The morning then," Rei said and walked off to the inn.

Celine's shoulders slumped and she looked disappointed, though not the least bit surprised. She glanced at the male swordsman and he gave a small nod to show that he would come along if she wished him to. She led the way to her house and opened the door to allow him into the snug building. She closed the door behind him and left to go the kitchen.

"Would you like some tea, Darling? My mother would make it but she and Father have already gone to sleep. Or would you like to just go to bed yourself? It's short notice but we always have a place ready for guests," she asked from beyond the other room.

"I'll have tea," he replied.

"Alright Dear."

After a few minutes the kettle was on the stove and Celine and Dias were sitting at the table waiting for it to whistle. Not to signal that tea was ready to be made but that the uneasy air would be broken. She was looking at him as if anticipating him to ask something and she was simply dying to talk about it.

"Go ahead and ask," he said finally to get her to stop her annoying staring.

"Was she the one to find you? How did you get her to come here? Why is she with you?" The questions were all pushed into one breath as if him answering immediately was the most important thing in the world to her.

"Answer to question one and three is yes she is the one who told me about the wedding. Two, she never presented a problem with the village until she saw you," he answered.

"I'll have you know it wasn't me at all, Darling. She left the village a good five years ago. Ran away from home for a really dumb reason," Celine said hotly. She was already in a bad mood from Rei reaction to her and Dias wasn't making it better.

He looked surprised. "She's from Mars?"

"Oh yes, didn't she tell you? No, no I suppose she wouldn't. The village basically drove her away. I doubt she talk about it to a stranger, not even to tell you she didn't want to come. Why is she with you anyway, Darling? I must admit I was a little more than surprised to see her," she explained more calmly now.

"I thought it was a stupid reason," he commented dryly.

Celine looked a little surprised at him. Apparently she hadn't even noticed her slip up. She gave a small sigh and looked past him and to the window. Dias turned to where her gaze was pointing and saw a light on in one of the windows of the inn. He wondered for a moment if the room was Rei's.

"Rei had always been incredibly talented with magic. Well, if you could call power talent. The thing is that she had plenty of raw energy but no control. The elders in the village tried to help her... but it was hopeless. She could pull out the energies required for a spell but she had no way to form it correctly. Then one day, while trying to fix the problem, Rei's powers simply exploded. There was an accident that killed some people and knocked her unconscious. It was then that the elders decided to seal her power. The spell was complex but it worked. A few days latter she woke up and she couldn't even do the simpler spells. Most of the village breathed with relief but not all. There were some that were angry with her for killing some of the citizens of the village. They... they yelled at her, calling her a murderer and such. She left by the next morning, I suppose because she believed the whole town fealt that way. We never saw her again until tonight."

While Celine explained the past of Dias' temporary companion, the wheels in his mind seemed to be turning faster. He found it so hard to believe that this had happened to her. It was as if Celine was talking about a different person. It just didn't make sense for this thing to have happened to Rei. The girl that almost always smiled and insisted that he needed to be open about himself more. The woman who would not even kill her opponents.

And then again, it seemed to make so much sense at the same time. She wouldn't kill because she felt herself to be a murderer. She smiled to hide her pain, talked to him because she wanted to share it. She sent her students away who flaunted their power because it simply reminded her of her lack of control. She hid her pain like he did, only in a different and seemingly more effective way. No one would guess that she hurt inside but his sarcastic, cruel, and somewhat sadistic mask had a way of letting people know that something had happened to him not so long ago.

The loud and sudden whistle of the kettle in the kitchen snapped Dias from his thoughts. Celine quickly rushed to quiet it and when she got back she saw that Dias had left to go to bed. She made an ugly face and put her hands on her hips.
"Oh, that man," she muttered with a huff.

The next morning Dias walked outside of Celine's house and came upon Rei. Several of the town's people were looking at her and whispering amongst themselves but did not openly speak to her. Apparently from the dark glares she was getting, not many of them whished her to be in the village. She seemed to think the same thing from the way she spoke.

"We should get going," she said. "The wedding is going to be in a few days and it's a fairly long walk. It'll take us about thirty hours if we don't rest."

There was a cheerful note in her voice but it was not completely convincing. It was lacking the seemingly true feeling she had always put into it without effort. She looked very tired as if she hadn't slept well last night. He didn't have to wonder why.

"That's fine. Celine was wishing to come with but I thought it best if she didn't. She left earlier this morning," he answered her.

Rei showed she had heard him by simply nodding and walking away, leaving Dias to follow. He did and once they were a good distance from Mars he spoke his mind.

"Celine told me what happened to you five years ago."

"And you want to know if it's true?" asked Rei.

He thought for a moment. Did he? It really wasn't any of his business. He gave a small sigh.

"If you don't mind," he said after a moment.

She looked at him for a moment. He thought she wouldn't wish to talk about it but then she nodded her head and looked out at the sky. "I suppose I should."

End of Chapter Three

Again, boring talking. Sorry. I had to split the third and forth chapter because the third was way to long. However, I swear on pain of death that the next chapter will be far more interesting.

Also, I realized I didn't do the disclaimer before. I don't own Star Ocean 2. I'm sure none of you are surprised.

Review or the nasty fanfiction gods will smite thee. Cue lightning...ouch