Chapter 7: Pieces

With a piercing pain in his forehead, Fai awoke in a place completely unfamiliar to him. A thick canopy of trees hung over his head as he laid on his back. He knew that he was in a forest, but he didn't know where. Did Mokona take them to a new world again? There was a vision in his head of a village, or rather a marketplace. A forest could be seen in the background. Was that where he was?

Fai didn't know, but it hurt his head more to try and think about it. His mind felt airy, like it was dangling up in the trees, swaying back and forth. It was something that he would normally attribute to that moment in between dreaming and waking, but it wasn't fading away this time.

He sat up carefully, clutching his forehead and trying to focus his mind. It proved extremely difficult to do so however. There was something distracting him, but that thing was invisible to him. Whatever it was seemed to be eating at him, making his forehead hurt incredibly.

Looking around, he found that he seemed to be in a makeshift camp of sorts. There were rotting crates being used as unsteady tables and a tiny lean-to was nearby. Fai had been laid down on a bed of leaves and he saw that a heavy black cloak was hung over a branch above him.

Fai found himself entranced by the cloak, recognizing it in some place deep in his mind. Somehow he knew who it belonged to, and yet it wasn't clicking just right. The pieces all fell together as a figure stepped out of the brush.

It was Ashura. Ashura had brought him there and Ashura had wanted to kill him. Even if all of the details weren't clear, he knew enough to scoot back as Ashura approached him. He knew that Ashura wanted him dead and that was all he needed to know, or so he felt.

" Go away," he whispered. Somehow, even his own voice sounded foreign to him.

Ashura's eyes widened at something that Fai could not see. Then he smiled, crouching down near Fai and sighed.

" You have quite the amazing will power, don't you?" Ashura said.

Fai wasn't exactly sure what his king had meant by that. It seemed completely out of the blue and random for him to say such a thing and it left Fai perplexed. Ashura had always been a mysterious person who kept things behind closed doors.

Ashura reached out and brushed Fai's hair out of his eyes. Immediately, Fai felt his body tense at his touch, and shivers ran down his spine. He shut his eyes tightly, though he wasn't sure why he had. He just knew that he couldn't look into Ashura's icy eyes. It was some sort of gut instinct that had resurrected itself somehow.

Relax.

A deep voice in his mind echoed over everything else, and Fai felt each muscle loosen at once. It was a slow, calming release that eased his frightened mind.

Fai opened his eyes then, forgetting entirely why he had shut them, and found himself locked in Ashura's gaze. His eyes were cold and piercing, yet they held concern deep within them.

" Are you all right?" Ashura asked, all smiles erased.

Fai suddenly wasn't sure. Where was he? What had happened to him? He didn't know the answers to any of these questions, and it bothered him. He could remember certain things, but it felt like he was missing many details. He knew he was traveling away from Celes, but with whom? What were their names? He thought for a moment that perhaps he was traveling alone.

As a force of habit, he found himself smiling and lying anyway.

" I'm fine," he said. " Why wouldn't I be?"

Ashura's serious face never faltered once at his smiles. It never had.

" I wasn't sure when I saw you crumpled in the street," he said.

" Crumpled…" Fai echoed in a whisper.

It seemed like that would be a hard thing to forget, yet he had no recollection of it at all. Slowly though, he could see it in his mind. It wasn't that he was in the street exactly, but so many buildings had been broken that it was impossible to tell just where the street was anymore. Fai had collapsed among brick and dirt that day. His smile faded a bit.

Ashura ruffled his hair tenderly, or at least feigning tenderness. This gesture certainly confused Fai, seeing as Ashura was supposed to kill him. He wondered if perhaps that was a garbled memory as well.

" It was a good thing I got you away from that man," Ashura said. " Otherwise, I think he might have done even worse things to you."

" What man?" Fai asked.

Fai was desperate to know, but even more desperate to know how he could forget something so seemingly important. There was something that definitely wasn't right and Fai couldn't tell just what it was. That may have been the part that bothered him the most.

" Why Kurogane of course," Ashura said, as though it were obvious. " How could you forget that?"

Fearful disbelief coursed through Fai's veins. That couldn't be right. Kurogane would never do anything to really hurt Fai, right? Fai desperately hoped that he was right. After all, he trusted Kurogane with his life, most of the time anyway. Fai found it odd that he had only remembered Kurogane after Ashura said his name though. There still was something wrong about the whole scenario.

Yet somehow, he could see it. Kurogane was looming over him, yelling horrible things at him, pulling his hair even. His chest and arm had been aching and Fai could only guess where those injuries had come from.

" You're an idiot."

" You make me sick,"

" I-HATE-people-like-you!"

You can hear him, can't you?

Fai could certainly hear him. He clutched his head with both hands as he heard all at once every insult that Kurogane had ever thrown his way. They swam rapidly in his head, circling around and around until he couldn't tell which one was which anymore. Images were beaten into his mind of Kurogane, always growling or scowling or destroying something. The whole ordeal frightened Fai a bit and he found himself shaking.

Suddenly though, Ashura touched his shoulder and all of it went away. His mind was clear once again. Still though, Fai found himself trembling. Kurogane had hurt him. He couldn't believe it, but he remembered it now, clear as a bell. Kurogane…had hurt him. That fact alone might have hurt him more.

" It must have been hard for you," Ashura said. " It's hard when someone you love hurts you."

Fai thought about that for just a moment. Had he really loved Kurogane? Perhaps he had, what with the silly pet names and the fact that he liked to cling onto him. He felt his heart flutter as he thought about it. Perhaps he had loved him.

Whether he loved him or not didn't matter anymore though. It was obvious by his actions that Kurogane didn't feel the same way. Ashura was right. It hurt more than words could say. Tears that would never be shed hid in Fai's eyes.

" Unfortunately though, he got away before I could kill him," Ashura lied. " He's such a damn brute.

" Of course," Ashura added. " He could be searching for you right now. He might want to finish you off."

For the first time, Fai could feel the cool breeze through the trees. He had never thought that things had been so horrible between him and Kurogane. Sure, he got annoyed easily, but there was something else there. With the knowledge that Kurogane could be out for his blood, Fai felt just a bit alone. It was as though the Kurogane that he knew and might have loved was gone and replaced by this abomination that went by the same name.

Somehow though, Fai could still tell that the pieces were jagged. He knew that this wasn't the way things were supposed to be, but so many memories were blurred and faded. It was as though each time he tried to reach out and touch one, it moved further away. His emotions came and went with each thought. At one moment he was angry and the next he was sad and after that he became scared and withdrawn. It wasn't right.

" No," he said.

Fai grinned morbidly at Ashura's shocked countenance. There was something wrong here and Ashura was the cause. Fai was certain of this. He couldn't quite reach any of the details, but Fai knew that Ashura was the one prying in his mind, clouding his thoughts.

Ashura was silent. Once again, Fai had stood up to him. Slowly he smiled. All that meant was that Fai had grown stronger.

" I don't want to do this," Ashura said softly. " Why can't you ever make things easy for me?"

" I don't know," Fai spoke truthfully for a change.

" Why can't you just submit?" Ashura asked.

" I still don't know," Fai said.

Fai was grinning again, knowing that his smiles were turning Ashura's stomach sour. It was just a tiny victory for Fai, but he savored it with everything he had. He was beginning to catch on to Ashura's plans and he knew that it made Ashura absolutely furious.

" I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this," Ashura sighed. " After all, I hate mindless puppets. They're no fun at all."

Fai winced when Ashura's fingers brushed against the cold gem in his forehead. His fingers never abandoned the jewel though. Instead they pushed harder against it, making Fai hiss in pain. A familiar light danced around Ashura's fingers and Fai found he could only watch in horror.

The powerful magic crashed into Fai like a bullet to the brain. The birds in the streets were startled away by the incredible scream that escaped his lips. Images and sounds completely unfamiliar to him flooded his mind and it only took a half second for him to fall on his hands and knees.

It was a whirlwind of scenes and voices. There were shots of Kurogane yelling and growling and scenes with Ashura smiling and laughing. Messages mixed in his mind, fusing with the physical pain of the magic. Fai knew that Ashura was picking and choosing memories, mixing them to his liking, but Fai was helpless. The pain shot through every nerve in his body it seemed and there was nothing he could do but allow it to happen.

Kurogane tried to kill you. He nearly did kill you. If not for me he would have. I love you. Love me. Kurogane hates you. He always has. Love me.

Fai cried out for Ashura to stop many, many times. He had never claimed that he wasn't a desperate man. Ashura would not cease though. Nothing could stop him.

Eventually, the pain became too much for Fai to bear. The sensation swallowed him whole and made him collapse on the ground with a tear stained face. He felt numbed somehow. Ashura had taken him and shattered him into thousands upon thousands of pieces, breaking him as he had in the past.

Ashura stood up and brushed himself off. He looked carefully at Fai's body, as though he were waiting for him to spring up and try to foil his plans again.

" I won't make the same mistake again," he said to himself. " I must take your mind completely."

The next time Fai opened his eyes for Ashura, they were hollow and worn, the eyes of a broken china doll. There were no smiles on his face and there was no light in his eyes. Ashura could only smile at this.

You're mine.

(A/N: Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews everyone: ) Of course, I have a feeling that many of you might want to tear my soul from my body for all of the misery I put Fai through. Heheh…XD Please R&R and I'll have the next chapter up soon!)