He stood in the open doorway of a stone building, looking ahead blankly as the crowd flocked by. The tall Elvaan was robed in white armor from head to toe, and was a figure definitely worth paying respect to. His deep green eyes seemed to say, "I am thinking."

A person of the same height leaned forward to face him. "Well, what do you think?" He asked with a confused look upon his face. His long ears twitched with a childish uneasiness.

The blonde-haired Elvaan in white sighed. "Uneasiness fills my soul, Jacques. I do not know what to think." So many things had changed recently. The King had been acting so strange as of late. Ever since that visitor.

"I don't like her." Said the young Jacques. "Anyone that can just jump into a position as high as General without first climbing the ranks is worth investigating." His mentor remained silent. "You know . . . Ever since I got that job at the recruiting hall, I've had access to lots of things in the San d'Orian government. Soldier records, reports, those sorts of things."

"Should you really be telling me this?" Said the white Elvaan, turning to face him. "This sort of thing is to be confidential, is it not?"

"Yes, I know I know . . ." He looked down, troubled. " . . . But I definitely feel the same feeling as you. Something is up . . ." He said, sighing. "I looked through the records of every soldier to ever be enlisted in the San d'Orian government, and . . ." He hesitated. " . . . She was never enlisted up until this point. Something like this has never occurred within these walls. Master Dakan, I'm worried . . ."

"And with good reason." Added Dakan. "The General is a force to be reckoned with, I assure you."

"Master? Are you hiding something from me?" He moved his long black hair from his eyes as he stared at his wise superior. "Please, master . . . Be honest with me."

Dakan smiled. "Maybe some other day, my apprentice. Maybe some day."

----

Silver Tear exited himself from the President's office and immediately began searching for Rini. After consulting Maccabee and Kraig, he discovered that she had stormed off to the remains of the Mines district and was, as described by Maccabee, "Extremely pissed off". He raced to the described area immediately.

From far away, he stared at her. She was furious in her sword techniques as she violently slashed away at the air, assuming balancing techniques deftly in a way he had never seen before. Her blade became enflamed with fire, reflecting the sweat forming on her brow. She was pushing herself to her absolute limits. A deep sorrow fell in his heart, for he knew he was the cause of this stress she now carried.

She saw him coming, although she couldn't care less. At this moment, she was the last person she wanted to lay eyes on. "Rini, I'm-"

"Don't even start, Silver!" She said bitterly, raising her enflamed blade inches from his face. "I have consoled you, helped you in any way that I could, and even taken up for you, and in return be scolded by the President. For the last five years I have done all of this without question." She began advancing, continuing to hold the blade to Silver's face as he backed away in rhythm. "And this is how you repay me. You were the last person I expected to stab me in the back in my time of need!" She then took a swing at his neck. Silver drew his knife in a second instinct, and their blades locked. Silver remained silent; he knew that he was wrong. There was nothing he could say. "I was wrong about you, Silver. You are not the man that I thought you were. Master Hicks taught you better than this! Search your feelings, Silver Tear!" She broke away from the lock and began a series of stabs at his chest. Her offence was overcome with hysterics, and easily deflected. He stepped to the left, knocking her in the back of the neck with his elbow. Her sword fell from her hand, and her body to the ground. She did not try to pick herself up, and she began to weep. Sheathing his knife, he turned and embraced her in his arms. Seeing this, she buried herself in his chest. "Silver, I don't know what to do . . . I . . . I . . ." She began to choke on her own words as tears fell from her brown eyes. "What if Bastok actually falls over such a foolish cause?" Her eyes met his.

"Then I will die by your side . . ." Silver said calmly. " . . . As your protector." They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

And then they embraced in a kiss.

----

The Bastokian airship hovered over the San d'Orian capitol. Hicks, dressed in worn, tarnished battle armor, stared at the battle below from the deck emotionlessly. He has seen this play far too many times. The fact that he had posed himself as a normal foot soldier and actually made it through security was almost sickening. However, he could not think of such petty things at this moment of crisis.

War.

The sound of it made his blood boil. It was so foolish. The four nations clashed at each other's throats by a simple misunderstanding. The fact that Windurst and Jeuno believed this filth was almost too much to bear. And all over a diamond.

The King of San d'Oria had always been a materialistic one. He valued his diamonds and gold far too much for his own good. Although the diamond that started this whole ordeal was incredibly large in value, he felt that there was something more to this item. There was much that the King was not willing to tell.

Hicks's train of thought was immediately interrupted by a rumbling below his feet; the ship had been hit. Smoke immediately began to flow from the engine room of the airship, and almost immediately after, it began to fall through the air.

The propellers continued to travel their path frantically as the ship made its swift descent, although, they began to slow as the engine continued to overheat more and more. The ground became larger and larger as the huge vessel began to steer away from the castle in a frantic attempt to salvage the soldiers onboard. The passenger soldiers became hysterical, and began running back and fourth shouting the obvious.

The collision was incredibly loud.

Gigantic pieces of metal bent like paper. Wood snapped like twigs. The airship landed near the San d'Orian walls with a rough slide as it crashed through trees and woodland surrounding the fortress. After what seemed like hours, the destroyed vessel came to a silent stop. Those who survived, though dazed, ran towards the battle.

Lieutenant Hicks was among those few.

----

The Dark Knight sat with the King inside his chambers with her legs crossed, her wrists resting upon her knee. She sat, silent, as the King discussed his petty tactics. "The Jeunonian and Windurstian forces have changed their plans, to say the least." Said the Elvaan leader. "They're not sending their entire forces . . . Now only about a third. They want to see how this all leads out before they submit themselves completely." He said, huffing under his breath. "We shall show them. We'll wipe those Bastokers out ourselves, and then they'll see. They have no faith in this ancient kingdom."

"Your words are true, my King." The Dark Knight said in her usual, deep, seductive voice. "However . . . It does bother me a great deal that they have no faith." She laughed. "I say we punish them for their lack of . . . Faith."

"You must be insane!" The King said, looking to her with disbelief. "If we were to do something so preposterous, they would never aid us if we were to call on reinforcements."

"You forget, my dear King, of your newfound . . . Abilities . . ." She rose. " . . . That reside in me. We can overthrow them . . . We can make them our forces! Claim their land! Their soldiers will join us . . ." A smile crossed her flawless lower face. " . . . or die."

The King remained silent. If they could overthrow their sister nations and claim their ranks as their own, their victory would be imminent. The idea created much thought to occur in the Elvaan's mind.

"If it is your wish, my King . . ." She turned her back to the King. " . . . then it will be done. I have the abilities, my Lord. Simply give me the order, and Jeuno and Windurst will be yours . . ."

----

The battle was fierce. From left to right, all that could be seen was soldiers clashing at each other's lives. Bodies littered the bloodstained ground. The bodies of his fallen comrades that had given their lives for the country they loved filled his mind. No one, even one as cold as Hicks could ever prepare himself for something so hideous and utterly gruesome as war.

Any opposing soldier that confronted him was taken down without effort. The first was an Elvaan Paladin.

He was experienced, yes, but Hicks was far too fast. The Paladin cast his first vertical slash at the impish man, and before he knew what hit him, he had rolled out of the way and had leapt towards him. The Paladin turned to the left and slashed horizontally, but he was far too slow. Hicks jumped, allowing the blade to fly under his feet, and leapt high. His blade sank deep in the Elvaan's chest, causing him to cry out in pain. Using the force of gravity to his advantage, Hicks turned himself away from his opponent, thrust his legs onto his chest, and allowed himself to sail through the air, pulling his blade from its Elvaan sheath with him. The Paladin fell instantly, dieing in a pool of his own blood almost instantly. He then waved the blade to the left in a quick motion to remove the flowing blood from his weapon. He sheathed it immediately after.

----

Rini, for a moment, allowed her flesh to be pleased by the warm touch of Silver Tear's lips. Reality then suddenly pulled at her conscience, causing her to break away from his soft embrace. "No . . . no!" She demanded, more to herself than Silver, shoving herself away. "That is the last thing that we need." She began to breath heavily, trying to reclaim her breath. "We must focus on the war." It suddenly became very hard to look her friend in the eyes. "And aside from that, I am still very angry with you."

He sighed. "I know. And you should be." He began, clearing his throat. "But we can use this to our advantage. He obviously trusts me . . . I may be able to change his mind. I have searched my feelings . . ." Although she did not meet his gaze, he still stared at her. " . . . and I know we should be out there. We can win this war, I can feel it . . . " He said with an enthusiastic smile.

Rini once again stared at him, and couldn't help but smile in return. She loved that sense of optimism he had. "Speaking of love," she told herself in her mind, "what was this I just experienced? Was that real? Did that even happen?" She wanted to think it was just some sort of dream, but she couldn't help but hide her feelings. At first, the thought it was only simple attraction, but many things can happen in five long years. She had known Silver Tear even before his involvement with the service, but she had never grown to actually know him. Was she falling in love? Was this all a big misunderstanding caused by mixed feelings? It was nothing more than one more problem to add to her list. Or so she wanted to think. Now that she thought about it, she didn't even want to think about it. "I have things I need to do." She suddenly felt very nervous at Silver's presence. This was getting so confusing so quickly. Without further hesitation, she hurried off to her quarters.

Silver, for a lack of other words, was blown away. He had revealed his feelings for her, once and for all, and she threw it off as if it hadn't even fazed her. He had bottled up the feelings for over a decade, and finally when he had felt she held the same feelings, she ignored them. His heart suddenly sank at this troubling realization. She may not love him at all. He stood alone.

Or so he thought.