A/N: To avoid any confusion on this chapter…. It was posted, deleted and now rewritten. It should be better now. After this there are only about three chapters left. Shame, I know. And if you haven't read it yet, I started Mr. 239's background story. It may be a while until updated but you should check it out if you haven't already. Anyways, thanks for the great reviews and enjoy the re-written 9th chapter.

Oh and before I forget… I'm planning on having a funeral for Mr. 57 sometime this October. There will be a black mage styled grave and words will be spoken, there will be about four people there including myself, and "Dead Boy's Poem" by Nightwish and "Speed of Pain" by Marilyn Manson will be played. So why I'm mentioning this is because I will be tying a message for Mr. 57 to the grave and I was wondering if anyone would have any messages they would like to send as well. I know it sounds weird but you know, fan fiction writers are insane, children. If you do then you can e mail it to me or put it in a review, thanks!

Chapter 9

He stood alone in the darkness, breathing in the cool night air. He had become aware of his lungs, his breaths, his heartbeat, his thoughts, his existence, only about a minute ago; but what a great feeling it was, this new awareness. He took a deep breath into his lungs, marveled at the strange and beautiful act he was capable of, breathing. His mind buzzed with thoughts he didn't understand but he didn't care to find out what they were. He was captivated. It cared not who or what he was. It didn't matter if he understood very little, or that his mind refused to leave him be. All that mattered in this moment was his existence.

He felt something push up against him from behind. He glanced back to find… A Black Mage. He was a Black Mage too. What was a Black Mage? It didn't matter did it? He wondered why the black mage was behind him, why the other black mage wasn't enjoying awareness or existence. He looked around and found that there were lots of black mages around him, they were all in rows, they were in a city. What was going on? Nothing was moving in this city…

Suddenly a voice shattered the silence, the voice came from somewhere behind him. And the voice said only one thing: "Attack!"

In an instant it seemed as if the entire world had shattered around him. His head swam in the raw magic all around him as everything in the dark lit. Buildings were burning. Someone was screaming, lots were screaming… Fire kept erupting all around him. The heat pressed against his face. The fire threatened him. His eyes were shut tight, his hands over his ears, trying to block the horrid place out. His mind seemed to explode, it was suddenly overcome with intelligence, explanations, programming. He wanted to block it all out too, but he couldn't rid himself of his mind.

Slowly opening his eyes he lost his mind to the nightmare he was thrown into. All he could see was fire; he felt the heat burning against his face and body, the smell of the burning wood awakening the magic trapped inside him. Buildings were toppling over all around him, and there was screaming, piercing screams, all around. He wanted to scream but found no power left in his voice. There was nowhere to run, there was only the fire…

The new morning rose like the last, it was dark and cold, the sun hidden by the layers of mist and cloud above the two mages. But there was still a hurt in the two mages, a sting that attacked them as they awoke. It was as if their dreams wished them to forget about Mr. 57, but the morning reminded them, not letting them forget. They decided to continue on their journey to the village they saw in their dreams. They also wished to escape the place Mr. 57 lay, they wished to leave it far behind. They said nothing to each other all morning, although the reason escaped Mr. 114. He guessed it was because Mr. 239 was still sad, he was too, it felt strange without Mr. 57.

They walked in the open, feeling sure that there were no humans wandering the plains. The two mages walked side by side, the only two beings wandering in the open fields. Mr. 239 still said nothing, Mr. 114 began to take interest in the scenery around him: the trees, mountains and even the haze of mist above him. But he felt sad again, remembering Mr. 57. His thoughts slowly turning to that day two days ago, the gate, the humans, and the screaming… But, what happened after they left? He had run in such a panic he didn't even think of what became of Mr. 57….

"Mr. 239…?" Mr. 114 asked quietly, almost scarred to break the perfect silence of the plain. Mr. 239 turned his head but kept walking, his head nodding to one side motioning Mr. 114 to go on.

"Uhh… What happened to… Mr. 57…?" Mr. 114 asked, his voice growing quieter as he spoke. Did he really want to know?

Mr. 239's footsteps stopped as he turned to face Mr. 114 with a look of shock and... disturbance. For a moment, Mr. 114 wished he had never said anything.

"You… know what happened." Mr. 239 replied in a confused tone, one not heard often by Mr. 114. "He was…."

"I know, but…" Mr. 114 interrupted quietly, "what happened… after that? Umm... What happens after… someone is killed?"

Mr. 239 stared for a moment, shocked and confused by Mr.114's questions. He of course had the same thoughts before but had learned to push it away, to not think about things no one seemed to understand.

"I… don't know." Mr. 239 tired to answer, his voice cracking. "… I don't know, I don't think we'll ever know… what happens…"

There was an uncomfortable pause between them; the darkness of their thoughts seemed to cloud over everything. Mr. 114 opened his mouth to break the silence but was cut off by a loud screech from above the two mages. Both of their bodies went tense as they looked up to find a large peach-coloured dragon hanging over their heads. It quickly swooped down and around the pair, the wind it made blowing their faces. It was just barely touching the ground as it gently hovered over the damp earth, it's eyes fixated on the two frozen mages as it circled them.

Mr. 114 stood shock-still, he had never seen anything like this before, this must be a mist monster. He panicked slightly, not knowing what to do until he heard Mr. 239 whisper to him: "Either help me cast magic on it, or run."

The dragon screeched again, the sound making Mr. 114's ears ring. The dragon flapped its large wings and took flight high above them, still screeching from above them. Mr. 114's path was clear, he could run for it; escape a battle he didn't want to be part of. But he didn't want to leave Mr. 239 on his own. But he didn't want to use magic, he wasn't even sure he could after Mr. 57's spell had damaged his hands. Finally, Mr. 239 ended Mr. 114's debate.

"Run now!" He yelled at Mr. 114 who instantly obeyed, making a sprint for a nearby forest. He heard the dragon screech from behind him as he ran, wanting to be far away from the mist monster. He finally reached the forest, tripping on a large tree root as he did. He panted has he lay on the moist forest floor, sensing Mr. 239's magic behind him, listening to the strained screeches from the dragon… sensing magic, in front of him?

He looked up from the damp ground, but there was nothing to be found but more trees and foliage. But he could still sense magic coming from… somewhere beyond the forest? Why would he be sensing magic there? Mr. 239 was behind him, not in front of him. Could it possibly be another black mage?

Mr. 114 pushed himself up from the ground, wiping dirt off his coat as he did, and started cautiously toward the source of magic. He supposed it could be another black mage, or maybe a human. Could humans cast magic? He wasn't sure, so he decided to be careful just in case as he proceeded through the mist-corrupt wood.

And as he stumbled out of the forest, he let out a small gasp as he came face to face with a black mage. If he hadn't known better, he could've mistaken this mage for Mr. 239. But this black mage… He was a C type, and looked like he was in bad shape having been stitched up a few times on his arms. Mr. 114 looked into the mage's eyes to find that all that stared back was his own reflection in his eyes… this black mage was empty.

It had been a long time since Mr. 114 had seen another black mage besides Mr. 239 or Mr. 57. He had forgotten what the empty mages looked like, their eyes vacant, breathing hollowly in a define pattern, almost never blinking. Mr. 114 looked the mage up and down again, noticing in fear the dried bloodstains on the mage's white pants. He became scared and disturbed, wondering what the mage was doing here, what he had done before to get a human's blood splattered all over him.

Mr. 114 turned as he heard footsteps behind him, Mr. 239 emerged from the wood looking slightly shaken from the battle with the dragon. He stopped dead at the sight of the new mage, his hands shaking as he stared at the bloodstained mirror image of himself. The empty mage did nothing as the two stared in slight horror.

"W-wow." Mr. 239 mumbled in amazement, "It's been so long since I've seen another C type…"

"He's empty…." Mr. 114 stated sadly.

"So this is what the C's were for." Mr. 239 whispered sadly to himself as he gazed at the empty C.

Suddenly the sound of human voices made the two mages jump in fear, both rushed back into the safety of the forest, leaving the empty mage standing where he was found. The two hid behind a patch of undergrowth and bushes, both listening and watching for the humans. Soon, a pair of humans came into view and were, to Mr. 114's horror, Alexandrian Soldiers.

"The hell's the mage doing all the way over here?"

"Oh, I sent it here to take out the mist monsters over here."

"Why?"

"I was bored, working Dragon's Gate is soooo boring."

"You're telling me, I hate working under the mist, I can't stop coughing…"

"Yeah, well, once they manage to get rid of all the bodies up in Lindblum we'll be out of here…"

"Phfft. Yeah right, I'll probably be stuck here in Lindblum while you head off to wherever it is in the Queen's Fleet. Shows my luck."

"Give me a break… black mage, follow."

The two mages watched as the guards walked off with the black mage, laughing and chatting as they went. Soon when they were out of view, Mr. 239 spoke up: "Good, we're going the right way… that marsh should be nearby…"

"But…" Mr. 114 spoke softly, "What about the black mage?"

"Wha.. what about it…?" Mr. 239 stuttered nervously knowing exactly what Mr. 114 was thinking, having the exact same thoughts himself.

"What's going to happen to him? He can't stay with the humans!" Mr. 114 started pleading to Mr. 239, he didn't want the mage to be killed… he didn't want any black mages to be killed!

Mr. 239 stood up from the ground, "There isn't anything we can do… if they aren't aware, they won't come with us. If humans see us, the black mage will be ordered to kill us." Although he believed what he said, he could feel his mind bend to Mr. 114 feelings, he also wanted to save all the black mages under human control, to save them from being killed in wars or when humans find something wrong with them, to save them from the cruel usage that the humans suppressed on them.

"B-But.." Mr. 114 stuttered.

"I'll show you…." Mr. 239's voice turned cold and sad, similar to the way it was the day before when he was still bitter about Mr. 57 being killed. Satisfied, Mr. 114 followed Mr. 239 as he crept out of forest, looked out for humans, and then ran to the next patch of forest. Under the protection of the wood, Mr. 239 could see Lindblum high up on a cliff across a small area of field, he could see Dragon's Gate and in the other direction, Qu's Marsh. Mr. 114 saw the few human guards at the gate, a group of empty mages patrolling and…

"Oh no…" Mr. 239 breathed as he saw black smoke rise up into the air, a fire had been started in front of the gate, several to be exact, the fires had been set by the hollow mages to burn the lifeless black mage causalities.

Mr. 114 watched in fear as the limp bodies burned, their faces hidden in darkness, part of their bodies torn open, some missing limbs, some were so destroyed in was impossible to tell they were once black mages. Mr. 114 felt tears run down his face as he watched, once the smell had reached him he was already sobbing into Mr. 239's coat. Mr. 239 felt tears too as he wrapped his arms around Mr. 114, but he knew it was nothing more than he already knew, he had seen similar acts the time he found Mr. 57.

For a moment, they both sat there, Mr. 114 wrapped in Mr. 239's arms as he sobbed. The bodies burning in the distance, the empty mages taking no notice of the horror around them, staring into the nothingness of their existence. Finally, Mr. 239 stood and pulled up Mr. 114 who's sobbing had become slow and quiet, Mr. 239 took his bandaged hand in his and began walking towards the marsh.

Mr. 114 did not attempt to turn back, he cried for the burning mages, for the empty black mages, for Mr. 57. But soon his tears stopped flowing, leaving him feeling tired and depressed. He tightened his hold on Mr. 239's hand as the forest disappeared and the fields were replaced with wetlands, the humans were far, they wouldn't see them. The sun had begun to set, and Mr. 114 saw something more beautiful then anything he had seen before, the ocean.

It was like the pond, or river from the day before only it stretched further than Mr. 114 could see. Large waves of water beat down on the shore, while some slid up gently and then fell back into the ocean. It's perfect blue colour hidden under the stretched reflection of the sunset. The sound of the waves soothed him, he suddenly felt calm and content watching the waves.

Mr. 114 pulled Mr. 239's hand as he rushed towards the beautiful sight. Mr. 239 made no attempt to resist Mr. 114 as he walked closer and closer to the shoreline. Soon he was steps from the water, he watched as the water ran up the sand repeatedly, the sound of the waves was more soothing than anything he had ever heard. Feeling weak from the earlier fright, he sat down onto the cool, damp sand. His bandaged hands played with the sand at his side as he watched the waves rush up to meet him, to touch him. He felt himself smile despite the pain that welled up inside. And for once, he felt calm.

He felt content watching the ocean and knowing that, he was not going to be killed like all the other black mages. He was going to go far away from the humans, to the world where other black mages were aware, were they lived in villages like humans. He would remember the other black mages, he would go to the village for them, because he knew… they would never make it.

God, I write scary stuff. Mr. 114 seems to have finally realized the extent of the Black Mages existence on the Mist Continent. Poor thing, I really don't mean to torture him… Anyways, if you liked it, please leave a review, even if you didn't like it, leave a review. And be on the lookout for the next chapter. Sorry it took so long to rewrite this one.