...-snort- huh? Whazzat? Where am I? What's going on? Oh, yeah. Everybody screeches. CAPPIE HAS WRITTEN MORE, WHAT! I know, I know…I suck…shoot me…I killed Fayt…He's dead…OR IS HE? Tell me if this chapter sucks. I think Albel is ooc somewhat, and it pisses me off. CURSE YOU, ALBEL!

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Fayt felt himself fall. He knew he wasn't actually falling, but the feeling rushed over him in a blur of images and emotions. He saw all of the accomplishments he had made in his short lifetime, all of the people he had saved. Fayt smiled softly to himself when he saw his friends, all of them helping him to save their universe.

"…ouch," Fayt muttered under his breath after he realized that he had stopped falling and had in fact hit something solid. The teenager's eyes fluttered open and Fayt found to his amazement that he was lying on his back and staring at the ceiling of what appeared to be a cave

Sitting up, Fayt looked to his left and found strange paintings on the cave's wall, and he crawled closer in order to see more clearly. Fayt gasped and put a hand to his mouth when he saw what images had been created there, feeling his stomach churn at the mere sight of them. There were people, of all ages, painted by some wicked man's hand in their moments of death. Some were screaming as they were killed for crimes they did not commit. Others were crying as they watched their children and family die with them. Fayt had to close his eyes for a moment, giving him time to realize one similarity: death was evident in every painting. Fayt snapped his eyes back open and searched the wall, looking for something to prove himself wrong. The teenager stopped his frantic search when his eyes rested upon one painting in particular.

There was a village being attacked by strange, dragon-like demons. They were being torn apart. Nobody was trying to save them. Fayt gritted his teeth and curled his fingers into a fist, leaning heavily upon the walls rough surface. The demons were Executioners, monsters that were released into Fayt's galaxy by Luther, the Creator, in order to kill their universe and everybody who inhabited it. Fayt had been unable to save them. They had depended upon him for their survival, and he failed them. True, Fayt had been able to kill Luther in the end, but that still didn't bring back those who died.

Fayt gazed back up to the painting, quickly becoming light headed. It was almost like Fayt himself had killed them… The teenager shook his head, attempting to rid his mind of these thoughts that still plagued him, even after death.

"Even after death…" Fayt suddenly turned his gaze to the other paintings, realizing for the first time that not only was death being depicted in all of the paintings, but that the people in them were actually dead. The people who were being attacked by the Executioners all died, and this must be the moment before they were killed. All of the paintings must be the moment before death for each person, captured and then recreated by some devil's twisted mind.

"Who would do this? Who would do something so terrible…and why?" Fayt wondered to himself, his eyes widening. The teenager broke out into a cold sweat when he realized where he must be. This must be the Underworld, the Land of the Dead, the Afterlife. No, this couldn't be. There had to be some cold emptiness, some dark oblivion to all of the travesties that Fayt had committed in his life. He couldn't be aware of what his life had been like, of all the wrongs he had done. That would be too hard to bear….

Fayt stood up and stumbled down the dark, winding tunnel that he had found himself in, praying silently to himself that it would lead him to some familiar place where he would find his friends, and they would all laugh at him when he told them of his strange dream. This had to be a dream…Fayt couldn't be…dead. This couldn't be the Afterlife.

Fayt staggered into a large room, following the paintings that dyed the walls. The teenager's mouth fell open when he looked around the room, finding to his amazement that the paintings splashed onto the walls and even the ceiling of the room. Fayt ran across the room and found another tunnel, the paintings continuing to lead the way to some unknown place. Fayt wondered how far they would lead him, but then stopped abruptly when he found them growing sparse. Fayt began to search the paintings, his eyes widening frantically when he didn't find what he was looking for. A bright splash of color grabbed the teenager's attention, and when Fayt glanced over to see what it had been he nearly fainted.

A dazzling color of blue had caught his eye, and when Fayt followed the color down he saw his own face painted vividly on the tunnel's wall. Fayt remembered everything: Seishiki betraying him, Albel fighting for him, Fayt telling Albel about Sophia, and then…death. It had been so simple, had taken just a second for Fayt to die. The teenager sat on the floor and looked back to the painting, noting that the paint looked fresh. A small scratching noise distracted him for a moment, and Fayt looked over to his left to see a new painting being created, this time of a small child. The painter was unseen, the brush as well. It was as if the paint just appeared on the walls, being applied in short brushstrokes that left Fayt marveling. The teenager looked back to his own painting and saw the bright red blood that stained his clothing, the blood that seemingly dripped out of the wide, gaping wound on his neck. It was true. Fayt was dead. This was the Underworld, and Fayt would be aware of all he had done in his life for the rest of eternity.

"Welcome to the Land of the Dead," a voice whispered behind him, and Fayt turned around to see a man with long, white hair standing with his arms crossed. "I, Mr. Leingod, am the King of the Dead," he finished smugly, watching with satisfaction as Fayt simply shrugged and then turned back to stare at the paintings on the wall.

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A small boy was sitting at the entrance to an old stable, shivering slightly whenever a cold breeze blew past him. He wrapped his arms around himself, covering the thin shirt he was wearing in an attempt to ward off the biting chill of the night air.

"I wish it wasn't so cold tonight," the stable boy thought to himself, leaning against the weathered wood, "Maybe I can go ask Eva for a warm bowl of soup…" he thought wistfully, closing his eyes and trying to imagine himself somewhere warm.

The boy had worked at these stables for all of his life, taking the rich patron's horses to cool them off and give them something to eat. The innkeeper was usually kind to him, but whenever the innkeeper got drunk the small boy knew to stay away. Eva was the other orphan who worked here. She was also very kind and even snuck some food to him, since she was in charge of the desk and the kitchens when the innkeeper was in bed. The old man, as the boy liked to call the innkeeper, had told him stories of when he was found, cold and alone. The old man had taken the boy in and had given him a job, never even giving him a name but mainly calling him "boy". When Eva came to work for the old man, she had given the boy a name, telling him that no proper man would grow up without having a name. She had given him the name Erik, saying that it had been her older brother's name before he passed away.

"Erik…" the stable boy whispered, deciding he liked that name. He promised her that he would grow up to be a fine man, just like her older brother.

Erik snapped his eyes open when he heard a slight shuffling noise, straining in the darkness to see who would come to the inn at such an hour. The young boy saw a dark shadow walk up to the inn's door and attempt to open it, though they were quite obviously having difficulties.

"Damn…" Erik heard the person hiss, and stood up to go and see if he could help.

"Excuse me?" the boy said very politely, walking up next to the dark form, "Can I help you?" Erik walked into the light of the small lamp that was hanging over the tavern's door and looked up, meeting the gaze of a man with blood red eyes. The stable boy shivered and then looked down to see what the man was carrying, since he was quite obviously burdened with something heavy. Erik jumped and almost yelled out when he saw the body of a young man in the arms of the other man, and looked up with frightened eyes to see the other man's reaction.

"Follow me," the man said, leaving no room for argument as he kicked the door open and stalked into the tavern. Erik jumped again when he heard the door being kicked open, then hurried to follow the man inside. Closing the door behind him, the stable boy searched the room for Eva, who was coming to meet them from behind the desk.

"Welcome! How may I…"

"A room." Eva was interrupted very rudely by the man, but all the same smiled and began to walk down the large hallway that led to the more lavish rooms.

"Please follow me," she said warmly, not taking notice of the man's burden as it was very dark in the tavern, with only a few candles to light the common room. The man waited impatiently as Eva opened the door to one of the rooms and turned around to ask him if it would be alright. The man, however, was already walking past her and into the room, laying the younger looking man down onto the bed and turning around to motion Erik inside before shutting the door in Eva's face.

Erik shifted uncomfortably as he watched the man attempt to move the large bed into a corner of the room, the other man still lying on top of it. The stable boy decided to help him and began to push on the foot of the bed, watching with satisfaction as it began to slide into the corner.

Once the bed was moved, the strange man picked the other man up once again and put him on the floor in the middle of the room. Erik noticed in the flickering light of the room that there was blood staining both men.

"You," the man snapped. Erik blinked his eyes rapidly as he came back to awareness, "I need a quill, some ink and parchment." The stable boy nodded and ran out of the room, making his way quickly back into the common room where Eva was.

"The man wants a quill, some ink and parchment." Erik said once he found Eva, and watched as she began to search the drawers for the items.

"What was that man carrying? I couldn't quite see with this light…" Eva questioned, still looking through the drawers.

"I…" Erik swallowed the lump in his throat before continuing, "I think it's a dead person…" the small boy finished, a shiver running down his spine. Eva stopped her frantic searching for a moment, gazing up into the boy's eyes through golden locks.

"Erik…" she said, moving around the desk to stand in front of him, "be very careful. We don't know if it was him who committed the murder, but all the same…just be very, very careful. Don't anger him. I would wake the old man, but he's out cold…" Eva finished, putting her hands on his shoulders and pulling him into a tight hug before letting him go to search the drawers again. "Here," she said once she found the things he needed, placing them on the desk in front of Erik. The boy gathered the items into his arms and took a deep breath, looking up into Eva's face.

"I'm scared…" he said, seeing Eva's face change into a perfect mask of sympathy.

"I know," she said, kneeling down in front of the shivering boy, "but you have to be strong. I gave you Erik's name for a reason, you know. Did you know that Erik saved me from a group of thugs once? It's true," she said, unable to hide her smile when she saw the stable boy's eyes widen, "There were four of them, They wanted to take me somewhere, and when I resisted one of them brought out a knife. I didn't know what to do, but then Erik was there. He saved me…" she finished, her eyes seeing into the past. Eva blinked, tears forming at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over. "Be safe, little brother," she whispered into his ear as she pulled him into another hug, kissing him lightly on the cheek before turning him around to walk back to the room.

Erik began to walk slowly to the room before he turned around once more to smile widely at Eva, "I won't be scared anymore, Eva," he said, seeing Eva smile back at him.

Once the stable boy was back in the room, the man snatched the items from his grasp, muttering something about taking too long. Erik watched as the man ripped the parchment in two, then as he bent over the desk and began to write. The sharp scratching of the quill on the parchment was the only noise to be heard in the room as Erik waited for the man to be done. The stable boy walked around the room aimlessly before he found his way to the man who was still sprawled in the middle of the room. Erik looked down and noticed that the man was terribly wounded, if he wasn't dead already. A large gash could be seen on his neck and red blood spilled out of it to stain the man's vest. Erik gasped when he noticed the size of the cut and the amount of blood, and then realized that the scratching of the quill had stopped. The stable boy snapped his head back up and found to his amazement that the man was staring at the other man with a pained expression on his face, his eyebrows creased and his mouth set in a straight line. Erik moved quickly away from the body, his movement attracting the attention of the other man.

"Here," the man growled, moving to stand closely in front of Erik, "You will take this to the Royal City of Aquios," he said, shoving one of the halves of parchment into Erik's hands, "There is a warrior who lives there. I want you to deliver this to her. Her name is Nel Zelpher. She has red hair and is a very well known warrior. You should be able to find her in the castle, and if not, give it directly to the Queen. I've written her name on the back of the parchment, should you forget it." The man then moved closer to Erik, pushing him roughly against the wall and glaring down into the boy's face, "If you mess this up, boy, and give it to someone other than Zelpher or the Queen, I shall personally see to it that you and that little girl in the common room with whom you are so fond of are dragged through hell and back. Do I make myself clear?" he hissed, watching as the boy nodded frantically. "Good," he said, backing away from the boy, "Here," he continued, tossing the boy a cloth pouch. Erik opened it and looked inside, his eyes widening when he saw the amount of fol that had been given to him. The stable boy looked back up with mouth agape to see the man smirking.

"Is this for me, sir?" Erik squeaked out, not able to believe what he was seeing. This was at least the amount of money he would have gotten for working for five years!

The man nodded. "Yes, and Zelpher will double that when you give her the letter. Do you know the way to Aquios?" the man asked, seeing the boy nod uncertainly, "Just go through the front gates and follow the path. It will eventually lead to Aquios." Erik nodded again, and then fidgeted nervously. Was this really happening? "Go now, and should you fail, remember…" the man said, clicking the claws on his strange metal arm dangerously. Erik gulped and turned to walk out of the room, before he heard the man behind him hiss, "Hurry!" and then he began to run.

Erik ran back to the common room and hurried over to Eva, who had stood up from her desk with a worried expression stamped on her face.

"Erik?" she asked, putting her hands on his shoulders as she searched his face, "Is everything alright?"

"Eva, Eva!" Erik said excitedly, shoving the pouch into her hands, "Look! Look what the man has given me! All I have to do is deliver this letter and then I'll have double that!" Erik couldn't contain his happiness as he smiled up into Eva's face.

"Oh, Erik! This is wonderful!" she sighed, glad that the man hadn't done anything to hurt Erik, "I'm truly happy for you."

"Yeah, it's great! Now I have to go to Aquios and deliver this letter. I'll come back for you, Eva, and we can get our own house and live together like a family! Like you and your brother did before he died…" Erik trailed off, turning around to leave. Eva stopped him and held the pouch out, but Erik motioned for her to keep it. "I don't need it. You keep this for yourself, Eva." He said, smiling broadly.

Eva smiled her thanks before opening it to take out a handful of coins. "Here," she said, holding her hand out and dropping the money into Erik's hand, "You take this for your journey. Good luck, Erik. I'll be waiting for you when you get back." Eva put her hand on the boy's head and ruffled his hair before he turned around once again to leave.

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Albel watched as the stable boy ran out of the room before he shut the door, turning back around to stand over Fayt's dead body. Fayt may be dead, but Albel sure as hell wasn't going to give him up without a fight.

The swordsman unsheathed a short dagger that had been strapped to his waist and looked at it, seeing a reflection of himself in the bright metal. He gripped the black hilt tightly, staring into his own reflection.

"I really am a fool…" Albel thought to himself, before holding out his bandaged arm and setting the sharp side of the dagger to his wrist. The swordsman grimaced when he felt the dagger bite into his burnt flesh as he dragged the knife up his forearm, tracing the blue artery that was found there. Red blood seeped out of the deep cut, and Albel quickly kneeled down next to Fayt. Albel let the blood fall onto the floor next to Fayt, quickly becoming dizzy but not allowing himself to pass out yet. The swordsman quickly cut his other wrist before he became too dizzy, then held both of his arms out to allow the blood to pool on the floor. Albel then began to smear his blood on the floor, dragging his left hand through the thick liquid to create a circle wide enough for both him and Fayt to fit in. Albel's vision blurred and he knew he didn't have much time left. Quickly finishing the circle of blood, Albel picked the dagger back up and stabbed it into the wooden floor in between Fayt and himself.

What appeared to be black light came from the dagger as soon as Albel let go of the hilt. The light, or shadow, began to seep throughout the room before it gathered itself back to the circle that Albel had created with his blood. The last thing Albel saw before he passed out was the shadow covering Fayt's lifeless body. Then all was black.

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"Excuse me! Nel? Nel Zelpher?" The red haired warrior turned around agitatedly when she heard her name called, searching the crowd of people for the one who had called for her. A small boy was running up to her, his face flushed and in his hand he had a piece of what looked like parchment. "I…I was told to give this to you," he said, holding out the piece of parchment as he tried to catch his breath. Nel creased her eyebrows and frowned when she saw the handwriting. She didn't recognize it.

"Thanks…" she said, looking back to the boy, who was staring at her expectantly.

"I was also told that you would pay me…?" he said, shifting uncomfortably. Nel opened the letter and searched it to see who had signed it.

"Albel?" she said incredulously, reaching into the pouch strapped to her side and producing a few coins. She handed them absent mindedly to the small boy, who looked at them before looking back up to the woman.

"Umm…he said that you would double what he gave me, and he gave me at least 5000 fol," the boy mumbled, sounding extremely nervous. Nel stared at him, then motioned for him to wait while she read the letter. What could be so important that Albel would pay a poor boy 5000 fol to deliver a letter?

Zelpher,

Fayt's dead, but I think I know a way to bring him back to life. In order for me to do that, I have to kill myself, so by the time you get this letter I will already be dead. I need you to come to Peterny and go to the inn that is right off of the market square. It's on the street that heads east. The girl at the front of the inn should know what room we are in. What you need to do once you get here is to heal us. You need to get our bodies living once again, so to speak. I don't expect you to understand, but you must come to Peterny. I've left another note inthe room further explaining what must be done.

-Albel

"Fayt and Albel…dead?" Nel thought, feeling light headed. The boy who had delivered the letter cleared his throat, bringing Nel back to reality.

"Oh, yes…your payment," Nel said, reaching into her pouch once again, this time producing a ring, "Give this to the Queen. She will see to it that you are paid in full. Also, tell her that I had to go to Peterny on urgent business." The young woman said, handing the ring to the boy.

"Alright, and thank you, miss!" the boy said excitedly, before weaving his way back through the crowd of people, heading towards the castle. Nel turned around and began to walk towards the gate that led out of Aquios and to Peterny. It was almost like she was in a dream, it all seemed so unreal. Fayt and Albel couldn't be dead…they just couldn't be.

Once the red haired warrior got to the dirt road, she began to run towards Peterny, confused and jumbled thoughts filling her head.

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Ta da! How was that? Sucky? Yeah, yeah I know. I sort of blame Albel's oocness on the fact that Fayt died and he's sort of like… "Whoaaaaa, maaaaannn…I am sooooooo out of it…" but that's just me trying to blame something other than the fact that I am a sucky writer. I'll have to munch a few scones before I continue. Thanks for all the 43(?) reviews, everybody! RAWK!