This is another chapter that I really like. It happens pretty much immediately after chapter 29, just so you know...but it's not hard to figure out. Like I've said a million times, I like the chapters that I wrote a while ago. This one has probably been finished for a few months. I know I finished it up at school, and knowing I got out in the beginning of May and it's already July? Yep. It's been done for a while. It's kind of short, but it wouldn't have worked out if it was any longer. I get my point across and I like the way it worked out, so yay.

Now, about the next chapter. You might be waiting awhile...maybe. I have a few more hours before I have to go to work so I'm going to start on it now. I have a basic idea for it, but I might not even like the way that it'll turn out. If that's the case, I'll just post the four or so chapters after that...and those are the four chapters that are my favorite...and they're the ones that answer your questions and pretty much make the entire story what it is. :squee: I don't think it would work out so well if I posted them now...because there is a few weeks time between this chapter and "Vaughn's Next Order." Therefore, the next chapter will be a 'in game' chapter. It's going to be 'in game time' but no 'in game dialogue.' Ya know what I mean? Anyway...

31. The Nightmare Begins

Locke didn't waste a moment's time when he arrived at the Quantz hideout. Avoiding questions to why he looked more disheveled then usual and why his clothes were stained with blood, he stormed to his room and began packing up a few things.

I can't tolerate this…He thought as he unsheathed his dagger and inspected it closely, making sure that it was going to be sharp enough for what he wanted it for. He thought he would never see it again for the soldier tossed it into the woods by Kohlingen, but luckily he found it while walking back from the Patriarch's house. He nodded in approval at the knife, then sheathed it again. After a short pause, he walked to his dresser for a new change of clothes.

As he peeled off the shirt that he was wearing, he heard his door open and he cursed at himself for not locking it. Although it was Xane, Locke was not in the mood for dealing with anyone.

"Hey, so there you are! Vaughn was looking for you earlier because you were gone for a…while…Holy shit." Xane froze in his tracks when he noticed Locke's state of being, then quickly shut the door to prevent any other traveling ears to eavesdrop. "W-What happened? Where have you been?"

Locke didn't speak as he looked down at the stained shirt in his hands, slowly clenching his fists around the material before throwing it down on the floor. Xane eyed the shirt then ran up to Locke and grabbed him by the shoulder to look for wounds. He gaped at the gash on his arm, but Locke shrugged him off.

"I'm fine," he replied as he saw Xane prepare to cast a cure spell. "It's a nice thought, but that's not going to work this time. I'm not physically hurt besides my shoulder, but otherwise…"

"I don't like the way you said that, therefore I'm going to ask you again; what happened?" Xane's voice was stern as he studied Locke's face. The pain was crystal clear, so worry washed over Xane's face. "Something happened."

"No shit, Xane!" Locke called back as he whipped around and looked at the older treasure hunter. He grimaced and put his hand on his arm from pulling the skin when he turned.

"Then explain it to me!" Xane said as Locke opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle of alcohol. "You leave to go on a hunt early this morning, then you come back extremely late with blood on your clothing and no wound except the one on your arm. There is no way that cut would pour blood on the front of your shirt and pants." He watched the younger man take a drink out of the bottle and grimace at the taste of it. "And now you're drinking again. I haven't seen you touch this shit in over a year. What's the occasion?"

"I need it right now," he replied as he drank about one fourth of the bottle in one gulp. Xane walked over to him, ripped the bottle out of his hands, and Locke reached for it. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Locke was surprised that Xane didn't throw the bottle through the window like he did the last time he started drinking, for Xane had the same look in his eye as he did then. Instead, he put it by his side and placed his hand on Locke's shoulder to prevent him from grabbing the bottle back. "Listen to me. In case you haven't noticed, I'm worried about you right now. Please, tell me what happened. Did you go to Kohlingen and see Rachel?"

With a shudder, Locke had a flashback of everything that happened; the sword going through her flesh, fluttering her eyes open and saying his name. The image burned in his brain, so he closed his eyes and put a hand on his forehead. To maintain his composure, he put one of his hands on the dresser for support.

"It was too late," he muttered under his breath as he held back his tears. With a sniff, he shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. "I was just too late."

"What are you talking about?" Xane asked, his voice becoming less patient as his state of worry grew.

"Rachel…" He trailed off and heard Xane take a few steps closer to him. "I…I was walking back here after the hunt that Vaughn sent me on, and then I saw that Kohlingen was under attack. I instantly thought of Rachel, so I went to see if she was okay. She…"

"Locke…" Locke put his hand up so Xane would stop talking and he could finish explaining.

"It was too late when I got there." He exhaled through his nose quickly as he thought about it. "The Baron was already dead and when I saw Rachel…" He bit his lip before he could continue. "She was killed right before my eyes. An Imperial soldier stuck his sword right through her stomach. She…never had a chance."

"It's not your fault," Xane said as Locke shook his head again. "None of it is. Stop torturing yourself over it."

"She remembered me," Locke added as he stared blankly out the window, and he heard Xane exhale. "Right at the last second, she said my name. Ya know, I'm curious to know if her memory returned at the last second of her life or if she actually began remembering things over the course of the year I was gone."

Locke turned toward Xane as if he wanted a comment on his statement, but he could tell that his friend didn't have the slightest idea. "Locke, I'm so sorry. I just don't know what to say."

"What if she remembered me several months ago?" He asked, partly to himself. "I mean, what if she looked around and realized that I wasn't there? What if she thought I abandoned her? What if…what if she thought I didn't care anymore?"

"I'm sure her father clarified things up with her if that did happen, but I guess we'll never be able to know," Xane said with a shrug and he walked over to Locke again.

"Yeah, I'm sure that he only said great things about me," Locke retorted sarcastically with a huff. "If she did get her memory back and her father expressed the wonderful feelings that he had toward me, I'm sure she cursed at herself and tried to forget me."

"You don't know that," Xane said to stop Locke's rambling. He put the bottle down on one of the shelves on Locke's wall before turning back to him. "But, you can't ask yourself these things. It won't do anything except drive you mad with curiosity."

"I need to get out of here," he stated suddenly, his voice frantic as he looked through the drawers. Xane watched as Locke threw random articles of clothing over his shoulder onto the floor in piles.

"What? Where are you gonna go?" Locke was surprised at how composed Xane's voice was, but he knew that he was only trying to calm down his emotions.

"I'm dealing with this once and for all," he stated simply as he pulled out a basic white tee shirt and put it on.

Xane narrowed his eyes at the younger man and took a few steps closer to him. "I don't like how you said that. What do you mean?"

Locke looked straight ahead as he clenched his fists by his side. "I'm going to Vector."

His voice was cold and it sent chills down Xane's spine as he heard the words. He heard the older man exhale in disbelief and saw his eyes go wide when he looked over his shoulder. "Locke, think about what you just said. Just going into Vector? That's suicide."

"There are worse things." He bit his tongue so hard to prevent the tears from falling that he began to taste blood. "I need to avenge Rachel, and that's the only way I'm going to be able to do it. I'm gonna find that son of a bitch that killed her and make him go through the same punishment."

"Yeah, great plan," Xane retorted, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "If you get three feet into Vector without getting killed, that's an accomplishment by itself. To clarify something that is obviously going on with the Empire, they no longer have a plan in who they're going to kill. They just go to a random town and attack its residents for no apparent reason. First the attack on Maranda the other day and now Kohlingen. If you walk into Vector, there is no reason to why they won't open fire on your ass; especially if you have your weapon out and ready and a look on your face that screams that you're out for blood."

"I can't go on knowing that she just died!" He shouted as he turned toward Xane. The frustrated look on Xane's face only infuriated him more as he gritted his teeth. "Going to Jidoor and having a night out with the boys isn't going to solve the problem this time. I left her for a year, Xane. A whole damn year! I should've been at her side to make sure that she was going to be okay, to make sure that I was there when her memory came back, but I wasn't! I was out trying to mend my life and make things better for myself!"

"Which you did!" Xane yelled back, causing Locke to blink in surprise. "You were doing fine! Sure, it took a while, but after some coaxing, you were cheerful again, your treasure hunting ability went through the roof, and you were just like you were when you first joined Quantz. You found yourself again."

Locke instantly calmed down and sighed at Xane's valid point, but he wasn't about to give up. Instead of replying right away, he turned back to his dresser and continued to sift through the clothing.

"Locke, don't go through with this," Xane said as he continued to persuade Locke's rash decision. "Again I'm gonna use this card, but it's true; Rachel wouldn't want you to do this for her. She wouldn't want you to throw away your life at her expense. Besides, she saved your life last year."

"And I wasn't able to save hers today." Locke's voice cracked as he choked on a sob.

"Come on, think about this," he replied, halfway pleading. "You're going to toss everything that you have going for you right out the window. You did all that you could for her and I'm sure she's thankful for that."

Locke looked down at his hands and hung his head. Xane knew that he was getting to him, so he took another step forward. "Xane, please, don't try to change my mind. I'll never be able to forgive myself if I don't go through with this."

"Yeah, you'll never be able to forgive yourself because you won't walk out of it alive," Xane stated again, putting his hand on Locke's shoulder. "Also, how the hell are you going to get to Vector? You can't swim that far and I know for a fact that you don't like ships. You might as well face it that you have to stay here."

Shutting the drawer he was looking through, Locke looked back down at his blood stained hands. "Xane, what am I gonna do? I can't just sit here and do nothing. The last time I did that, it ended up in Rachel dying a year later."

"I know you don't want me to ask this question, but I'm going to," Xane said, shutting his eyes before speaking again. "What did you do with her?"

"I brought her to a house on the northern part of the continent," Locke replied, wiping his hands on his clothing, even though the blood was already dried. "I've heard rumors of a patriarch who was able to possess the power to do wonders with magic and herbal healing, so I sought him out. He said he would be able to preserve her until I could find a way to bring her back. I'm going to find the way, Xane. I promised her that I would protect her and I won't go back on my word."

"You really want to know my opinion?" Xane asked, Locke nodding in response. "You promised Rachel that you would look after her, so continue doing it. Look for a way to bring her back. There has to be a way."

"I hope so."

"I'll help you look," Xane said with a small smile. Locke narrowed his eyebrows at his friend and Xane gave him a reassuring nod. "I mean it. I'll ask Vaughn if there's anything that he can find and you and I will go after it, okay?"

"Really?" Locke asked quietly and Xane nodded again. "Wow, thanks, Xane. That means a lot to me. Thank you so much."

"Of course." Xane gave Locke another pat on the shoulder and held up the liquor bottle that was still in his hand. "This does mean that you can't go around drinking or threatening that you're going to go to Vector. That's not going to get you anywhere, you know that."

Xane handed Locke the bottle back and he put it on top of his dresser. "Yeah, I do know that. Rachel never liked drinking anyway. A casual glass of wine at a party, but that's about it."

"And another thing," Xane began with a shrug of his shoulders. "As hard as this may sound, don't try to think of her that often. Or if you do, don't make it verbal because it'll make things worse. We'll do what we can."

"I guess we should tell Vaughn that the diamond's now in the hands of the Empire, shouldn't we?" The color drained out of Xane's face and Locke blinked a few times. "Well, yeah, they raided the VanLente house, taking the diamond when they ran across it. It's worth a lot of money so I really don't blame them."

"The…Empire has the diamond?" Xane rubbed his face with the palm of his hand and Locke nodded. "Shit, I gotta tell Vaughn."

"Yeah, I figured," Locke said with a shrug. "We might as well tell him now."

"No," Xane replied sharply, putting his hands up to motion Locke to stay where he was. As he continued talking, he started to walk backward towards Locke's door. "I-I'll tell him. You can stay here and change. I don't think that Vaughn or the other Quantz guys would want to see you covered in blood. They would ask you all kinds of questions and right now we don't have time for that."

Before Locke could say anything, Xane bolted out the door and ran toward Vaughn's office. What the hell is going on…Locke thought to himself, scratching his chest. Determination washed over his features and he clenched his fists. Rachel, I will find a way to bring you back to me…Please wait for me…