Note: WHUUUUT? I only have the first two chapters of this posted! I thought I had more!

Wow...

Ugh. I'm so tired. Next month is going to be pure ebil thanks to the six classes I'll be taken for Pell. Yup. Interesting times afoot.

Speaking of which, here is the third installment of Anywhere. And for those of you who were wondering about My Hime, it's still coming along. I'm three pages into chapter five. It's just...being slow. -sheepish grin and sweatdrop-

Disclaimer: Not mine. Honestly.

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Anywhere But Nowhere

Part III

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So Alenhatan turned out to be a big fat failure. Not that Cleao had expected to find Orphen there--though it would be nice--but she had expected some answers. Answers that were not teasingly displayed before her only to be flicked away when she became a hair close to grasping them.

Just when she was beginning to like Stephanie, too! That bitch knew something about Orphen and wouldn't tell her! All because Orphen made her "promise" not to.

Promises…what the hell were those anymore?

"Really? You mean it?" She almost couldn't believe what she was hearing.

He snorted. "What? You think I said it because I like the sound of my own voice? Yes, I mean it, you nitwit! I promise that I will never leave your side, okay? Now, will you please, for the love of God, go back to your own bed and quit sneaking into mine?"

"Wonderful job of keeping your promises, Orphen. Really. Hats off to you."

And yet he expected everyone else to keep theirs.

Bastard…

Well, technically, he didn't leave your side. You left him.

Shut up!

With Leki trotting next to her, Cleao set off on the road leaving Alenhatan to…well, she really didn't know where. Her only lead had been as useful as a snail's brain. Orphen could be anywhere on the continent…

But I will find him. Even if I have to comb every inch of it on my hands and knees!

Perhaps she should have followed her first instinct and went to the Tower of Fang. She doubted naughty little Cranky-ass-elo would be welcomed there with open arms but maybe there was a friend or two of his who might have a clue where he could be. She supposed she could pay Majic a visited in the process. It had been a while since the two of them spoken.

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In the daytime, the Tower was more awe-inspiring and elaborate than when she had been here at night. She could see why the people who called it "home" would never want to leave. However, she doubted they would be pleased to have an outsider such as herself waltz in on a whim and wander about the prestigious university. Indeed, Cleao was stopped by the guard the moment she approached the gate.

"State your business, m'am," the guard ordered.

"I've come here to see Majic," Cleao answered as politely as she could. For all her feistiness, she knew better than to argue with a guy who was holding a spear.

"As do a lot of people who come in here," the guard replied dryly.

Unfortunately, polite was a characteristic Cleao could never seem to have a grasp on for very long. "I didn't mean sorcery!" she snapped through gritted teeth. "I mean I've come to see a student here who's name is Majic!"

"Uh huh. And why do you have a Deep Dragon child with you?"

Leki growled but Cleao scooped him up in her arm. "He's my pet and closest companion," she retorted. "Not that it's any of your business what I choose to keep as a pet."

"An animal of such supernatural power is a threat to this Tower. As are you if you have such a creature in your possession."

"He's a baby!"

Geez, no wonder Orphen left; these people were more obnoxious than he was! She didn't think she could handle being here more than an hour herself.

"What seems to be the trouble?" a smooth male voice inquired and Cleao saw the familiar redhead approaching the quarrelling duo.

"Shrimpy!" Cleao cried happily.

Hartia stopped short and the guard stared at him, hard. "Shrimpy?"

"Eh…heh…inside joke," Hartia replied with a wide smile, then turned his attention to the girl before him. "Cleao! This is a pleasant surprise. I thought I recognized your voice while I was passing the courtyard. How are you?"

"She said she came here to visit some kid named 'Majic'," the guard interjected before Cleao could explain the situation to Hartia herself.

"Yes, that would be one of my students," Hartia answered calmly, shutting the guard up in an instant. Cleao did not bother to hide her smirk, a blatant expression of 'I told you so'.

"Come on in, Cleao. Class just finished, so the two of you should have plenty of time to catch up."

As Cleao walked beside Hartia toward the Tower, she debated whether telling Hartia the real reason she was here. She needed all the information she could find, but after the fiasco with Stephanie, she doubted her pride could handle more lies and talks of stupid promises.

Besides, if Orphen did speak with Hartia, no doubt Shrimpman would keep his lips sealed even tighter than Stephanie's. This was Orphen's childhood best friend, after all. Aside from Azalie but like she was around for him to talk to, anyway.

"So, where's Krylancelo?" Hartia inquired cheerfully. "Are the two of you still fighting like cats and dogs? Though he's not too fond of this place, so I can see why he wouldn't come."

Cleao cringed. Why did he feel it necessary to bring it up? To cover the fact that he already knew the reason of Orphen's absence? Well, if he could play that game so could she.

"Orphen's just great!" Cleao chirped, at the same time sounding annoyed as though the very mentioning of his name irked her. "No, he refused to come. Refused to visit his former student, can you believe that? So what if the Tower of Fang and he don't get along very well? Orphen's just being selfish, if you ask me."

Hartia laughed, taking Cleao completely by surprise because the laugh sounded very, very real. "Sounds like the two of you are getting along much better than the last time I saw you. I'm glad to hear that."

What was this? She had told him a flat-out lie and he acted as though she spoke naught but the truth! Her eyes narrowed.

Nice acting, Shrimpman. Real nice.

"I don't mean to be rude and I'm not trying to imply anything," Hartia continued, still grinning, "but have you and Krylancelo started dating yet?"

Cleao gaped up at him. "Excuse me?"

Hartia was a little taken aback by her sharp look and his smile faded. "I just mean…well, you two seemed to really like each other. Beneath all the arguing, I mean. I just wondered that if during these past eight months, if you two--"

"Stop toying with me."

"What?" She said the words so softly, Hartia wasn't sure if he heard her right. "Toying with you?"

She whirled on him. "That's right! I already know you know so there's no need for you to pretend!"

"Pretend what?"

"Stop it!" she screamed. "You know what!"

"No, Cleao. I don't."

"I said stop it!"

"Stop what?"

"The fact that you know that Orphen has been gone for the past eight months and no doubt he told you where he was going and why and that he made you promise that you won't tell me but I don't care what you or he say because I will find him and beat him into a bloody pulp whether you people like it or not!"

Cleao started gasping as that little rant had practically sucked all the air out of her lungs. Hartia was staring at her with eyes as wide as saucers, unable to believe what he had just heard. He was telling the truth; he had absolutely no idea that Orphen had been gone for the past eight months. He had always assumed that he had been hanging around Totokanta all this time. Thus his inquiry of the relationship between the hotheaded sorcerer and his feisty female partner.

Now that he thought about it, Majic did seem a little depressed the first few days since he came back. And he didn't seem to talk much at all. Hartia thought it might be because of the school itself but if Krylancelo had something to do with it, it would explain everything.

"Cleao, what happened?" Hartia inquired softly.

"No! You already know! I'm not gonna repeat it!"

"Tell me what happened, Cleao."

"No!"

"Tell me."

Cleao started shaking slightly when she looked up into Hartia's eyes. There she saw true sincerity. He honestly hadn't known. And even if he did, what was the point in not telling? Maybe Shrimpman would be able to help her, after all. And so, as they walked into the main common room, Cleao told Hartia everything. From confessing her love to Orphen, to the hostile argument that caused her leave, to the incident at Stephanie's and what she said, to what led her here.

"My God, that's horrible," Hartia breathed once Cleao had finished her story and seemed to be calming somewhat thanks to the hot chocolate he had ordered for her.

"Stephanie seemed to agree," Cleao replied.

"Well, unlike Stephanie, I would never make such a promise to Krylancelo," Hartia pointed out. "I care about him, but I care about his friends, too. Very much."

Cleao felt her cheeks redden a little. "Thank you," she whispered. "But…what I don't get is why would he tell Stephanie and not you?"

"Yeah, I'm wondering why the jerk didn't come to me, either. I am his best friend, after all." Hartia's nose crinkled with indignation, then his expression faded to serious. "Do you still want to talk to Majic?"

"Of course!" Cleao cried.

"Do you think he might know something about Krylancelo?"

"Well…he did come back to Totokanta by himself. I figured something happened between him and Orphen that caused them to split."

Either that, or Orphen dumped him off and left just to avoid you.

That sadistic voice within her was really starting to get on her nerves.

---

"Cleao!" Majic cried in surprise before the pair wrapped each other in a tight hug. Like Cleao, Majic had also developed over the years, and now that he was seventeen he was practically as tall as Orphen. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting, you dummy!" Cleao shot back, playfully bopping the top of his head. It was funny that she could barely reach that high now. It was good to see him, as though a weight was temporarily lifted from her shoulders at the sight of at least one other member of the team.

The team…

"Hey, do a favor for the team, will ya?"

Both she and Licorice stared at him in surprise.

"Go shopping for us. We have supplies to replenish and once we hit the road again, I doubt we'll be seeing another town for the next week or two."

"You just want to get rid of us!" she accused.

He grinned. "But you'll be shopping, Cleao," he pointed out, rubbing the top of her head. "And be away from me. Doesn't that make you happy?"

Doesn't it?

No, it doesn't. It doesn't make me happy at all.

"Hey! Earth to Cleao! Are you okay?"

Cleao snapped out of her thoughts and saw that Hartia and Majic were staring at her. "Are you all right?" Hartia inquired, though considering the current circumstances he could see why Cleao would suddenly space out like that.

She nodded, then faced Majic, expression apologetic. "I'm sorry, Majic, but I didn't come here just to visit with you," she confessed.

To her surprise, Majic smiled. "I kinda figured. It's about Mas--I mean, Orphen--isn't it?"

Without hesitation, she nodded again. At the same time, she caught on that Majic stopped referring to Orphen as his "master" and wondered what had happened between those two that caused such a serious change.

"Well, I can't say where he had disappeared to or why," Majic admitted. "Other than about a day or two after he got into it with you and you left, he and I had a… confrontation of our own."

"Master, what is this?"

He held out a letter and Orphen quickly snatched it out of his hand. "Where did you find this?" he exclaimed.

"It fell out of the bag."

"And you read it?"

"I couldn't help it when I noticed certain words in there. Master, what the hell is going on?"

"Well, if you took it upon yourself to read my personal business, then you know damn well what is going on," Orphen snarled.

"Is this why you treated Cleao as you did when she finally told you howshe felt?"

"It was necessary."

"Why?"

"Why the hell do you think?" Orphen nearly screamed. "You read that letter, did you not understand what it says? If Cleao ever found out…" He paused, quickly calming down, lowering his voice considerably. "…if she ever found out, especially after what she said to me, could you imagine how hurt she'd be? Better for her to hate me this way…instead of telling her the truth and having her hate me then."

"But you two still could--!"

"No, Majic…no, we can't. I've learned that I have to put responsibility over the things I want. In a way, I suppose this is my punishment. You two will have to get on without me."

"Two?"

Orphen looked at him then, his expression grave and almost heartbroken. "I can't teach you sorcery anymore. Go back to the Tower of Fang. Fulfill a promise to me and became the greatest sorcerer there." He smiled faintly. "And be sure to tell them who taught you everything you know. And…promise me you'll take care of Cleao. Don't let her do anything stupid. Like chase after me. Give her a few days and she'll probably try to do just that. She can't know about this. Please don't ever let her know."

"But why--?" It dawned on him then and his jaw dropped slightly. "You love her, too, don't you?"

Orphen didn't say anything.

"Don't you? You love Cleao, too!"

"Later, Majic. After tonight, we probably won't see each other again."

Majic looked at Cleao and she was dumbfounded. "Is that why…? But what happened? What did he do that he could think I would hate him?"

"I can't tell you, Cleao," Majic whispered. "I want to but I just can't. But in a way, I don't want you to know, either."

"Then at least tell me where he is!"

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

"We could try and see if Lai can find him," Hartia suggested. "It might take a few days…"

"A few days?"

"Well, divination magic is not a sure thing, and Lai would have to sift through many energies before he could pinpoint Krylancelo's. Such a thing takes days. Weeks even, depending on how far away he is."

"I can't wait that long!" Cleao cried.

"There might be an easier way," Majic spoke up and both Cleao and Hartia looked at him intently. "Cleao, where were we about nine months ago?"

Cleao blinked. "Nine months? That would be around the time Licorice left, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. Where were we?"

"I don't remember their names, but I do remember what towns you're talking about."

"Try one of those."

"Why?"

"Because I believe that was around the time he had received the letter."

At first, Cleao seemed confused, but then she nodded determinedly. "Okay. I'll go check there, then."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Hartia asked.

She shook her head vigorously. "No. I have to do this on my own. I'm not going to confront him about anything that's happened. I just…I just want to see him again. I don't care what he's done. I love him. I meant that."

Hartia and Majic both nodded in understanding. Of course, Majic knew that he should be holding true to his promise to his former master and try to stop Cleao from going and discovering Orphen's horrible secret. But what Majic had learned long ago that there was no stopping Cleao once she had made up her mind. Besides, Orphen needed to realize that this girl honestly loved him…and there was far more to love than just simply possession.

-End of Part III-

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Three down. Two to go. And comments are lub!

And for those of you who did not know this, I did not make "Cranky-ass-elo" up. Cleao actually calls Orphen that in the first season dub.