Sacrifice for the World

by magewriter

spoilers! Kratos tells a story, the Yuan, the Mithos. It's like those books that tell the same story from different perspectives. Used to be called His Story, but I now have Martel's story, so that doesn't work.

4. Martel

Chapter 4: Martel

Martel… I always think of Colette, without the clumsiness, times twenty. And who looks like Tabatha. They said that Martel was brave, that she loved everybody, and that she was willing to give her life for a world that couldn't accept her. That's all I know. I'll do my best, but remember that this isn't flashback, this is her living this. She can't know what's going to happen.

Why did Mithos always have to hurt himself like that? Beyond just scrapes and scratches and cuts, like a normal fourteen-year-old boy, he had to play around with magic. Whatever a "gravity well" was, it wasn't good, and Mithos was now unconscious. My job? Same as always: get him a life bottle and a lemon gel.

I walked into the general store, which now had a sign that read, "New Management." I walked inside, and my breath caught in her throat. He was… beautiful. A second later, I heard him say, "Uh… Are you okay?" which brought me back to my senses. "Uh… I'm fine. I'm here to get some stuff for my brother. What's your price for life bottles and lemon gels?"

"Somehow, I doubt I want to know what your brother's done."

"Yeah. He never learns."

"Well, you could get one of both – you do only want one of each, right?"

"Yeah. He's not that stupid."

"Okay. You can get one of each for… four hundred gald, how about?"

"Wow. I've never gotten them so cheap before! Usually, it's five hundred!"

"Well, I like you."

"I like you, too."

"Uh, just out of curiosity, what's your name?"

"Martel. What's yours?"

"I'm Yuan. Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow?"

"How about tonight?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Come to my house at 6."

"No, that wouldn't be right. I asked you; I'll cook."

"Okay. When should I go to your house?"

"6."

"I'll be there!"

"Okay. I hope your little brother feels better!"

"Oh – wait. Where do you live?"

"You know that house down on the lower level with the stained glass lantern?"

"Yeah. I'll be there!"

And I left to heal Mithos, with an extra bounce in my walk. Holding the glass bottle of holy water, I didn't dare skip like I normally do, but I did have an extra-happy smile on my face. He was so beautiful! Mithos wouldn't understand, especially since I hardly did, but it felt good to be with him, to talk to him, to look at him… I felt extremely lucky.

.-..-..-.

"Wake up, sleepy head!"

"I feel like I just ran my head through a meat grinder."

"That's what you always say after you get knocked out. Welcome back to the world of the living!"

Then, as always, he remembered the absolutely amazing discovery he had just made.

"Oh! Martel! Guess what I figured out?"

"What's a Gravity Well?"

"It's like Gnome pulling you toward the ground, Sylph pulling you into the air, and Shadow pulling you into darkness all at once!"

"What's all this pulling? Why can't you just hit'em a couple of times and be done with it? …Not hay bales with fireballs, of course. You're lucky you were only ten, or you would've been in really big trouble."

"…" glare like, "I hate you"

"I have a date tonight. With Yuan. He's the new owner of the Items Shop. I have a total crush on him. I'm going to his house at 6. I want to bake him something. What should I make?"

"How about your apple-spice bread?"

"Yeah! I bet he'll love that!"

I set about making the sweet bread. I peeled, cored, and sliced six apples (I always make a double batch) and gave the peels to Mithos after putting some aside for myself. After it was all cooked (while I was cleaning the kitchen – Mithos checked the bread every few minutes) I took it out of the bread pans. I put some of it in a box with a pretty cheesecloth over it, and cut two slices of one of the other loaves for me and Mithos.

As always, it was delicious.

It was soon time for me to get ready for my date with Yuan. I put on my nice dress, my prettiest earrings, and a bracelet I borrowed from Mithos, and walked, with my box full of apple bread, to Yuan's house.

.-..-..-.

"Oh! Hi, Martel! Why don't you come in? It's freezing out there."

I could tell he was nervous, as I was, so I just smiled and said, "Thanks!"

"Oh! What do you have there?"

"Well, I told my little brother, Mithos, about my date tonight, and I told him I wanted to bake something nice for you, so I made some apple-spice cake. It's not as good as it was when it was warm, but…"

"I'm sure it's great. Sometime I'll have to try it when it's fresh. How old is your brother, anyway?"

"Physically, mentally, or maturity-wise?"

"Umm… How old is he in maturity?"

"About five."

"Mentally?"

"Eighteen or twenty."

"Physically?"

"Fourteen."

"Wow… Why do you think of him as immature?"

"Well, he always experiments with magic, and he always gets hurt. Once, he set some hay bales on fire… he was ten then. He's a genius, but he doesn't understand that, when he fools around with magic, he's going to get hurt."

"He sounds… interesting."

"Yeah."

Long, awkward silence.

"What are you cooking? It smells good!"

"Soup. It has potatoes, meat, miso, a little milk, some vegetables, and some purple satay."

"Wow. I wish I could cook like you can."

"If everyone cooked the same way, the world would be a bland place."

"Hehe… What does your soup do?"

"It raises your health and your magical abilities… and your luck. I never understood that part."

"Maybe it's like, if you're willing to spend that much time and ingredients on one dish, you ought to get something kind of permanent for it."

"You're probably right."

I smiled.

"Well, whenever you want to eat… it's not a picky soup. It can just sit there for however long…"

"How about now? It smells wonderful."

"Okay. The kitchen's over here. Sorry I don't have matching chairs…"

"It's okay. You live by yourself. I understand."

He smiled at me over his shoulder while he went to the kitchen, which made me melt. I was glad to sit down because I knew I would fall down otherwise.

"Okay. Here we are. How about I put your bread in the oven while we eat? It can warm up in there, and then it'll be fine."

"Okay. It's almost as good cold."

"It'll never be as good as when it was just baked, but we can try."

"Okay."

We spent dinner talking about this and that. After the soup, we had the apple bread. Yuan exclaimed over how wonderful it was, and I blushed and felt like an idiot for blushing.

Finally, it was really late and I had to go home.

"Okay. I'd like to see you again sometime, Martel."

"Okay. How about next week, at my house? At 5, though – you also have to meet my mother and Mithos."

"Okay. I have no doubt that we'll see each other again before then."

"With Mithos as my brother? Of course!"

He hugged me, taking me completely by surprise. "Goodnight. I… I don't think a kiss would be appropriate for a first date, but a hug should be fine. Unless…"

"No. It's fine." I hugged him back, and snuggled my head to his chest.

"Goodnight." I could just feel his lips on the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Yuan."

Then… I left. That was it. I tried to feel the hug again for the entire walk home, though. I was glad I'd brought my cloak. It was getting cold.

Finally, I got back to my house.

"Hi, Martel! How'd it go?"

I hugged Mithos and picked him up in my arms. "It was wonderful! Oh, Mithos… I feel like jelly inside! He hugged me!" I squeezed him even harder. "Oh, Mithos, I think he loves me!"

"That's great, Martel, but will you put me down now?"

"Oh… sure."

I put him down.

"It was so wonderful, Mithos! I can't really describe it, but…"

"That's great, but maybe you should follow your own advice and get some sleep."

"You're right. I don't know how I'll be able to, but I'll try. Oh, Mithos…"

"Yes, I get it. Yuan was wonderful, he made you feel great, and now you should go to sleep."

"…Okay."

Still smiling, I went inside. I changed into her nightgown, hung up my dress, and brushed my teeth, then – surprisingly – slept.

.-..-..-.

"Martel! Wake up, stupid! Exire's about to be bombed!"

"WHAT! Is everyone going to make it out?"

"We think so. No one's sure, so… the kids are going first. How could you not wake up?"

"Go, Mithos! You're a kid! I'll go as soon as I can!"

"Okay. If you die, Martel…"

"I won't. And mama won't, either. Now, run!"

Not caring that I wore only a nightgown, I ran to the closest rheaird dock. I knew that Yuan would be at the other one, but if we were both at the same one, then that would give us smaller chances. I saw my mother in the crowd.

"Mama! Is Mithos safe?"

"Yes. He just went with the last group. You go next."

"But –"

"Don't object, Martel. I'll get off when I can. If I don't… I love you, Martel. And Mithos."

The tears really started coming then.

"I know, mama."

"Here come the rheairds. Go, Martel! Find your brother! …And, I hope you and Yuan get along as well as you think."

"Oh, mama."

"This may be your last chance! Don't worry about me! Go!"

I was shoved onto a rheaird, which was attached by a metal cable to the rheaird in front of it, and flown down to a campground. I scarcely had time to get off before the chain of rheairds started going back up to Exire.

I saw Mithos. "Mithos! C'mere! Momma's going to be coming down next – there are seven, right?"

"I think so."

"Yeah. There are only five people at that dock."

"Okay. Let's wait for her."

We waited, then ten seconds later, BOOOMMMMMM! Exire exploded. The Rheairds would just have gotten to the dock. Not thinking about my mother, or myself, I grabbed Mithos.

"Run, Mithos! Exire's falling!"

It was true. Bits of the city in the sky were falling to earth. We ducked under the trees and we could hear the debris bang into the branches.

It wasn't until I knew that we were safe that I started crying. Mama was dead. I was 24, Mithos was 14… it should work out. But our mother… we would never see her again. She was a human, but she loved us. She never spoke well of Father ever since he left when I was 12, but she was nice. I sat there for at least ten minutes, me and Mithos holding each other, because if we were separated, then we would have nothing left.

After ten minutes, I heard Yuan's voice:

"Martel? Mithos? Mrs. Yggdrasil? Where are you?"

My head jerked up. I stood up, and Mithos stood up with me. "We're over here, Yuan! We're fine."

I heard the leaves crunch as he ran up to us.

"Where's… did she…"

Mithos, who didn't know Yuan, yelled, "Yeah, but who are you to ask about our mother? You never knew her!"

"I'm Yuan. Come back to camp. It's warm there, and it's been a long morning for everyone."

The day was uneventful. We told Yuan the story. It dawned upon me that I was wearing only a nightgown, but there were others here wearing night clothes.

I slept in one of the girls' tents (girls, women, whatever) after making sure that Mithos had a place to sleep. He was my responsibility now.

In the morning, I had breakfast. I wasn't hungry – I'm never hungry when I'm sad – but I knew it was good for me, so I ate. Yuan, Mithos, and I sat together. Mithos and I had hardly been aware of the war. Yuan had lost everything, twice – the first town he had lived in had been bombed, too. He was only a year older than me – 25. I decided that, if that was what war did, then I wanted the war to end. Yuan laughed at me and said that people had been trying to stop it for a thousand years, but Mithos agreed with me and eventually, we got Yuan to join us, too.

We went to the closest town, called Akaya. It was near Palmacosta, the capitol city of Sylvarant, but to stop the war we needed power. All three of us were half-elves, so we decided that Mithos, who had the best offensive magic skills, would form pacts with the Summon Spirits.

We all decided which weapons we would use. Mithos chose two swords. They were made of steel, and had small, faded runes inscribed in them. Yuan chose a double-ended sword/axe thing called a Swallow. It was pretty. I chose a mage's staff. It was slightly curved, so I also bought a bowstring. The staff, made of strong wood, proved to be very good for hitting Mithos on the head when he misbehaved.

With our weapons, we went to the Water Temple to make a pact with Undine.

Mithos was very intelligent. He used mainly electric spells, especially that one with the electric sword and the big circle. He calls it "Thunder Blade." Yuan kept wincing, as though imagining how Mithos might have figured out how to use the attacks.

Soon, Undine, the Summon Spirit of water, made the pact with Mithos. The intake of mana wasn't good for him. He said he felt dizzy, and he kept falling down. He hadn't gotten any blows to the head, so that wasn't it; therefore it must have been the mana he'd received.

We left and went to the nearby dock city, then headed north, across the Hakonesia Battleground, to the Wind Temple.

In the battleground, there were the remains of fallen monsters. I felt so sorry for them, because they had thrown their lives away. Then I saw a bird.

It was green and white, and it seemed panicked. We followed it and found a man, lying on the ground, heavily wounded, and wearing the dark purple of the Sylvarant army. "Please… help. Heal me…"

Yuan and I healed him. I don't know why I did it. After all, he was a monster, a person who could kill and not think that he was killing peoples' friends and family members.

"Are you a monster, or are you a man who bleeds inside when he kills?"

"I am neither. I was a man when I joined. I've gone more towards being a monster, but I understand that I'm hurting people who I've never met."

"You're a monster, then."

"No. I didn't choose to join the army. If you mean, do I feel sick inside when I kill, then yes, I do. I was drafted, so I didn't have a choice. No one who's been in the army for ten years can consider himself entirely human, but I try to remember that I'm not just protecting my country like the generals say, I'm killing people."

"Oh… Well…"

"I have useful skills. If you don't send me back to the army, I'll be eternally grateful."

"We're on a quest to stop the war. We're making pacts with the Summon Spirits, so the kings of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla will have to listen to us."

"…I see. You do know that your efforts are futile, right?"

"We're gonna try anyway!"

"… You have exceptional courage. Even if it is a lost cause, I'd be happy to join your party."

"Will your… uh… bird help?"

"Noishe is a protozoan. He's in the Aeros form. And… well, he doesn't really like fighting, but if you want him to fight, I guess he could."

"Okay. He'll be our protection. I'm no good at fighting, and neither is Yuan. Mithos still looks kind of queasy from the Seal of water, so it would be great to have you and your protozoan. Noishe, did you say?"

"Yeah."

We found out over the next few days that Kratos was from a little village called Iselia. It was in the northern area of the Western Island of Sylvarant.

.-..-..-.

Today, we went to Lake Umacy and I got a Unicorn Horn. The Unicorn died, but Kratos says it's okay because it'll reincarnate soon.

.-..-..-.

We probably shouldn't have pushed Mithos like that. After he defeated the Sylph, the three Summon Spirits of Wind, he fainted. He was smart, and used only ground attacks against them, and then he couldn't hold their mana. Kratos pitched our tents faster than I thought possible. We can "speak" to Luna and Aska any time, but Mithos needs to heal first.

Yuan has been teaching me healing arts. I've learned all sorts of great stuff from him. We taught Kratos First Aid, but he doesn't need to use it much.

One of the first things I noticed about Kratos is that he knows a lot of obscenities. As in, he could be a carpenter for his swearing, or a sailor for his oaths. I guess it's from the army. I'm just glad that Mithos is fourteen, so it won't make as much of an impression on him as if he were a little kid.

So, there are now four of us. Five, if you count Noishe. He's really sweet. I'm not sure I entirely forgive Kratos for killing so many people (ten years in the army!) but I do understand that he didn't really have much of a choice.

Mithos defeated Luna and Aska, then he started getting really haughty, like he was the only one of us who mattered. We're now going to Ifreet, the Summon Spirit of Fire, a long way away, then to Iselia and the Iselia Dock. Kratos can see his friends and family again, which is good, and we can all rest, knowing that from now on, there will only be one Summon Spirit at a time. Mithos is changing. He definitely is.

.-..-..-.

We've defeated Celsius. Mithos is really starting to depress me. When I get depressed, as I've said, I don't care about food. It all tastes like dust. Kratos doesn't love me, but of course we're all close friends by now, so he tries as hard as Yuan to get me to eat.

Today, over breakfast, Yuan asked me to marry him. I was wondering where he had gone when we came to Flanoir, sneaking off by himself, and I guess this is it. I ate breakfast, by the way. I could forget about Mithos' changes while I played with my ring in the light. Of course, I got him one just as nice. More masculine, though. It's only silver, and it has the letters Y and M engraved in it. Mine is a little more showy. It has a peridot gem, which matches the dress I bought in Akaya so that I wouldn't have to wear a nightgown. It flashes a lot. I kissed him on the mouth when he gave it to me. Then my bones turned into jelly and I was glad I was sitting down.

So here we are, heading towards Gnome. I don't know why, I guess Mithos just knows more wind spells than water spells, but that's where we're going anyway. We've gotten some nice rheairds, so we can get there quickly, and Mithos says that he's up to it.

.-..-..-.

Now that he's defeated Gnome, Mithos' gloating has gone up enough. It hurts for me to see him like this. I cry at night. Yuan and Kratos comfort me, not being heavy sleepers, but Mithos just lies there, snoring. I spend some nights just crying until I'm too tired to do anything but sleep. I'm glad that Yuan and Kratos understand. If they didn't, I don't know how I'd go on.

After Shadow (SS of Darkness) I stopped complaining to Mithos. If he isn't going to listen to me, then why bother? I've heard Kratos call what I'm doing a tantrum, but it doesn't feel like it. I don't care about food, I can't sleep, and Mithos doesn't seem to care about how I feel. I don't even think he notices. If I were hurting him, he would have told me, but he hasn't. He's become so selfish…

.-..-..-.

Mithos, the gloater, has gone over the top. He nearly considers himself a god. Now is when I've started throwing a tantrum. I'm not talking in Mithos' presence. For all he knows, I haven't spoken a word since we got out of the Temple of Lightning. I've talked to Yuan, though, and Kratos. They stay up with me at night, especially Yuan. When this war ends, Yuan and I plan to get married. Kratos isn't "humph"-ing our quest as much anymore. Now he sees that we're serious.

Oh – And when I really have to tell people things, I write letters on their hands.

Well, now we're going to see Origin. I talked to Yuan and Kratos one night, and we decided that, if Kratos ingested Aonis, the sacred metal said to be the source of the Elves' magical abilities, he would be the best person to take Origin's mana. He's really interested in magic, so it would be – I guess – good for him. We had a long discussion. I'm not sure how much more mana Mithos can hold, and even though I'm mad at him, I still love him. We decided that, since Yuan and I are more just support instead of offense, Kratos would be the best person. I knew Mithos would be angry when we told him. We had decided that I should tell him since he wouldn't get as angry at me. Yuan and Kratos would be there, though. They're always there.

The day they were walking through the Ymir Forest, I approached Mithos. I wrote on his hands: W-E-T-H-I-N-K-T-H-A-T-I-T-W-O-U-L-D-B-E-B-E-T-T-E-R-I-F-K-R-A-T-O-S-M-A-D-E-T-H-E-P-A-C-T-W-I-T-H-O-R-I-G-I-N-I-N-S-T-E-A-D-O-F-Y-O-U-H-E-C-A-N-I-N-J-E-S-T-A-O-N-I-S-A-N-D-I-T-W-I-L-L-A-L-L-W-O-R-K-O-U-T-G-R-E-A-T-W-E-N-E-E-D-H-I-M-T-O-B-E-L-I-N-K-E-D-T-O-T-H-E-S-E-A-L-I-T-W-I-L-L-S-T-I-L-L-B-E-Y-O-U-R-P-A-C-T-B-U-T-K-R-A-T-O-S-W-I-L-L-H-O-L-D-A-L-L-O-F-T-H-E-M-A-N-A-F-R-O-M-O-R-I-G-I-N-Y-O-U-R-E-A-G-R-E-A-T-L-I-T-T-L-E-B-R-O-T-H-E-R-Y-O-U-R-E-A-L-L-Y-A-R-E-B-U-T-I-M-N-O-T-S-U-R-E-H-O-W-M-U-C-H-M-O-R-E-M-A-N-A-Y-O-U-C-A-N-H-O-L-D

"What?! I can take Origin's mana! I'm not some little wimp!"

Y-O-U-R-E-A-L-S-O-G-E-T-T-I-N-G-R-E-A-L-L-Y-F-U-L-L-O-F-Y-O-U-R-S-E-L-F-A-N-D-W-E-T-H-I-N-K-T-H-I-S-W-O-U-L-D-B-A-G-O-O-D-L-E-S-S-O-N-I-N-H-U-M-I-L-I-T-Y

"No I'm not!"

"Yes, you are," Kratos said. He and Yuan were standing behind me. "We've discussed this. You're only fourteen. There's a limit to your abilities. You just don't seem to understand that."

"Kratos can't even make pacts!"

"I'm planning to ingest Aonis. I'm prepared to do it."

"Mithos," Yuan this time. "It isn't like it's me or Martel. Kratos does offensive skills, so logically, he should be the one to make the pact."

I-M-W-O-R-R-I-E-D-A-B-O-U-T-Y-O-U-L-I-T-T-L-E-B-R-O-T-H-E-R-Y-O-U-R-E-O-N-L-Y-1-4

"So I can't make pacts with Summon Spirits? I've done all eight, I can make one more!"

R-E-A-L-L-Y-W-E-T-H-I-N-K-I-T-W-O-U-L-D-B-E-B-E-S-T

"Mithos, you're already hurting her! Just let Kratos take the pact! It's not anything against you!"

Mithos and Yuan got into yet another argument. I scrawled into Kratos' hand, T-H-E-Y-C-A-N-B-E-S-U-C-H-C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N-S-O-M-E-T-I-M-E-S

"Yeah, they really can." Then, turning to the other two, he yelled, "Shut up!"

Mithos pushed Yuan. Yuan pushed Mithos. Mithos pushed Yuan harder. Yuan pushed Mithos off the path and into the water. I couldn't help laughing. Yuan turned around, and ran up to me and hugged me.

"It's nice to hear your voice again, Martel."

I smiled, but didn't say anything because Mithos had surfaced. I simply squeezed Yuan and went to pull Mithos out of the water.

Of course, the second he got back on the boardwalk, he tackled Yuan into the water and they wrestled there. The water being only about four feet deep (Yuan had a big advantage because Mithos was so short) Kratos and I just watched them. "They'll get tired eventually."

L-E-T-S-A-L-L-H-O-P-E-M-I-T-H-O-S-D-O-E-S-N-T-H-A-V-E-A-N-Y-T-I-M-E-F-O-R-A-S-P-E-L-L-B-EC-A-U-S-E-T-H-E-P-O-N-D-W-O-U-L-D-E-X-P-L-O-D-E-A-N-D- I-R-E-A-L-L-Y-L-I-K-E-D-H-I-S-O-U-T-F-I-T

Kratos laughed. He went back to watching the Fight. "Okay, Yuan, that's long enough! If you dunk him for too long, he won't be able to breath! If you hurt Mithos, Martel will be mad at you, too."

Mithos came to the surface, gasping. Respecting the unwritten rules of combat, Yuan let him catch his breath for a couple seconds. Mithos pushed Yuan underwater, but he only did a backwards flip. I wondered how they would ever wash the dirt out of their clothes. I certainly wasn't going to.

"Augh! There's a fish!" Yuan climbed quickly out of the water. Mithos, panting, followed him. They took of whatever they were wearing that wouldn't expose them. Their socks, of course, were squishy, so eventually they took off their shoes and Yuan smacked Mithos in the back of the head. I ran up to him and scrawled, D-O-N-T-H-I-T-MY-B-R-O-T-H-E-R-T-H-A-T-S-W-H-A-T-I-D-O and Yuan laughed. I smiled. He was so beautiful when he laughed, even with his dark blue hair plastered to his head. Mithos' hair had turned light brown.

Mithos and Yuan entered Heimdall in soaked clothing, laughing their heads off. Consequently, Kratos was the one who asked for lodging and other things. He bought them some new weapons and armor with my advice while Mithos and Yuan dried off in the inn.

Later, Mithos said he had something he wanted to ask one of the elves about. He returned a few minutes later with 24 less gald, some metal runes and some glowing rocks. I didn't know what the heck they were for, but for 24 gald, they couldn't be that bad of an investment. Even if they didn't do anything, they were still pretty.

"Hey, everyone! C'mere! I have something for you!"

T-H-E-Y-R-E-P-R-E-T-T-Y

"Yeah, but they do more than just that. The elves say, these will protect us. They might even make us live longer!"

"Mithos, exspheres are new technology. Even the army isn't stupid enough to use them!" Kratos… mad?

"Then they're missing out. We're all at least half human. You're entirely human. We need these."

"No, we don't!"

Kratos stormed out of the inn, which was unusual for him. He was always calm. I followed him.

He was outside, slumped over the banister on the patio of the inn.

"Go away, Martel. I know what you want to say to me, but I'm not going to use an exsphere!"

"What are exspheres?"

"They're little rocks, for all you know."

"…but what are they really?"

"They're lives. They attach the rocks to animals. To finish making the exsphere, the animal has to die."

"That's horrible!"

"They wanted to use Noishe to make an exsphere. They used to use protozoans because they're more intelligent and stronger than a lot of animals, and they can live for thousands of years. Then protozoans became endangered species. They use humans sometimes, too."

"How could Mithos…?"

"He can't admit that he makes mistakes. Didn't you notice that? He never says he was wrong, even when he was. You always see the best in people, Martel. You probably didn't notice. He probably thinks that this is just a good investment."

"I thought…"

"Whatever you do, Martel, don't use an exsphere."

"You have some really strong feelings about this. Did one of your friends…?"

"Yes. In the army, you get used to people dying. Your friends, yourself… everything is temporary. But… he wasn't killed by the Tethe'allans. If he had… maybe I could get used to it, like everyone else who died. But he was killed by us. They took off his exsphere, and he turned into this big, green, hideous monster. We didn't have any choice but to kill him. I was the only one who really understood that the exsphere held his soul. I destroyed it."

"Oh… I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It's just… different to kill your friend than your enemy who you don't know."

"You didn't have a choice. You did what you could do to protect others. There's nothing wrong with what you did, only with what the people who gave him the exsphere did."

"…"

"Really! Tell Mithos what exspheres are! I'm sure he'll understand."

"No, he won't."

"He's gotten a little selfish, but he still understands the value of a life."

"Actually… I'm not so sure he does."

"Well… You have to try!"

"…Okay. If it were anyone else asking, I wouldn't do this, but… You're different, Martel. I don't know what separates you from anyone else, but…"

I smiled at him and they went inside.

"Look, Martel! Mithos says these will help us fight!"

W-H-A-T-H-A-V-E-Y-O-U-D-O-N-E

"Huh? What do you mean?"

T-H-O-S-E-A-R-E-M-A-D-E-W-I-T-H-T-T-H-E-L-I-V-E-S-O-F-A-N-I-M-A-L-S-A-N-D-H-U-M-A-N-S

"Uh… Mithos? Martel just said that these things are made with lives."

"Uh… of course they aren't."

"Martel wouldn't lie. Is that what you and Kratos were talking about?"

Y-E-S

"Mithos… If you lied to me…"

"It's worth it, okay?"

"No, it isn't." Kratos had the sort of flaming anger on his face that scares people. "If you had ever known someone whose life was taken by and exsphere, then you wouldn't have said that."

T-A-K-E-I-T-B-A-C-K-M-I-T-H-O-S

"They're only stupid hu– uh, Kratos, why are you looking at me like that?"

"I know exactly what you were going to say." Kratos walked up to Mithos, who was visibly flinching, and clenched his hand around Mithos' wrist. "Take it back!"

"Take back what? I never even said it!" Mithos' shoulders were hunched, his knees were bent, and if Martel wasn't much mistaken, he was shaking.

Kratos bent down to look Mithos in the eye. "Then take back the thought."

"Okay! Okay! Humans are cool!"

"Good." Kratos stood up, let go of Mithos, walked back across the room, and leaned against the wall as though nothing had happened.

"I… I could've –"

"Leave it, Mithos. We understand each other now. Nothing else needs to be said."

glare

Then Yuan spoke up. "So, Mithos, now that that's settled, how do I take this off? I don't seem to be able to."

"You don't take it off."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you told me these were harmless."

I struck Mithos with my staff.

"Oooowwwwwwwww!"

S-E-R-V-E-S-Y-O-U-R-I-G-H-T

"Yeah. You lied, Mithos. There isn't a way to talk yourself out of this."

"Are you psychic or something, Yuan?"

"No, I just know her really well."

Kratos' voice cut through the rest. "We should rest. Yuan, neither Martel nor I blame you for what you didn't know. Mithos, you should think about your morals. This isn't justified. Think about that."

"But he –"

"Stop, Mithos. When I fight Origin tomorrow morning, I want to be rested. Don't come along, because if you do, then you and Yuan will be fighting, and I'm going to need to focus."

.-..-..-.

When I woke up, the area right below my throat itched and I had a sense of something bad having happened. Without opening my eyes, I scratched her chest…

"MITHOS, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Hurray. Kratos yelling loud enough to wake up everyone from there to Sylvarant.

I had metal runes where my skin should have been.

"You know what I did!"

"You're right. I do. What I really want to know is, why did you put a key crest and an exsphere on me while I was asleep?"

"You know why."

"I do, but I don't want to think that you're that bad of a person, and neither does Martel. This is your last chance to justify yourself. Tell me why I shouldn't crush you."

"Well, see, I want to come along when you fight Origin, and you said that you need to concentrate. Now that you have an exsphere, you won't need to concentrate as hard, so I can come along!"

"Then why did you put one on Martel?"

"She always said that she wanted to be better at magic. It'll give her more potential as a mage."

There was a pause.

"It isn't worth it to kill you. If I did, it would get blood all over the sheets and that would be too much work for the inn staff."

"Wait… what about the Aonis?

"I was able to find someone who sold it. He crushed it into powder for me. I guess I'm going to have it over breakfast."

T-H-A-T-S-S-O-W-E-I-R-D-T-O-E-A-T-M-E-T-A-L

"Heh… yeah. I wonder how it's going to taste."

I-H-O-P-E-I-T-D-O-E-S-N-T-T-A-S-T-E-B-A-D

"Yeah. It's not like I have a choice though, is it?"

We ate breakfast outside. The Aonis (which Kratos said was bitter) made Kratos feel kind of sick. We waited until he felt better, then went to find Origin.

.-..-..-.

W-H-Y-I-S-I-T-T-H-A-T-M-E-N-N-E-V-E-R-A-S-K-F-O-R-D-I-R-E-C-T-I-O-N-S-Y-O-U-C-O-U-L-D-H-A-V-E-J-U-S-T-A-S-K-E-D-W-H-E-N-W-E-W-E-R-E-I-N-H-E-I-M-D-A-L-L-A-M-I-T-H-E-O-N-L-Y-O-N-E-W-H-O-A-C-T-U-A-L-L-Y-T-H-I-N-K-S-I-N-O-U-R-G-R-O-U-P

"Yes, Martel, I think you are. Mithos is too stupid to think about the price of a life – which, right now, happens to be 1 gald – and Yuan is just as stupid when he's talking to you. He has a really bad crush on you, if you hadn't noticed.

C-R-U-S-H-E-S-A-R-E-N-T-B-A-D-I-T-U-R-N-T-O-J-E-L-L-Y-W-H-E-N-H-E-H-O-L-D-S-M-E-B-U-T-T-H-A-T-I-S-N-T-B-A-D

"Hehe… Whatever you… uh… write. And I'm stupid because I relied on my sense of direction to get us through a forest that's as confusing as Gaoraccia."

H-A-H-A

Mithos was frustrated.

"Get him… Fireball!"

A little chinchilla/lemur thing scurried out of a hollow log, scared by the fire balls. I whapped Mithos on the head with my staff. "Oww… that was… I'm dizzy… Why'd you have to do it that hard, Martel!"

Y-O-U-T-H-I-N-K-Y-O-U-D-I-D-N-T-D-E-S-E-R-V-E-I-T

"And what do you mean by that?"

Y-O-U-P-U-T-E-X-S-P-H-E-R-E-S-O-N-M-E-A-N-D-K-R-A-T-O-S-W-H-I-L-E-W-E-W-E-R-E-S-L-E-E-P-I-N-G-A-N-D-Y-O-U-T-R-I-E-D-T-O-B-U-R-N-T-H-A-T-L-E-M-U-R

"Yeah, but… that was really hard…"

I whacked him again, but lighter.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!

S-H-U-T-U-P-M-I-H-O-S

glare

"You two! Stop fighting! We're here!"

We had come to a clearing with a big rock in it. Not much of a landmark, but it had to be Origin.

Kratos fought bravely and defeated Origin. In the end, he made the pact. Mithos was steaming all the way back to the inn, and Kratos was smiling. Then all they had to do was go back to Exire and find Maxwell… was there an Exire? Had Maxwell been destroyed with the city, or had his marker? If it had, how would they find him?

When they got back, Kratos started to pack his belongings (those that he had taken out) into his pack.

K-R-A-T-O-S-W-H-A-T-A-R-E-Y-O-U-D-O-I-N-G-Y-O-U-S-H-O-U-L-D-R-E-S-T

"There's no time. Weren't you listening in the city? There's been an army spotted only a couple miles from Heimdall."

T-H-E-Y-C-A-N-D-E-F-E-N-D-T-H-E-M-S-E-L-V-E-S-T-H-E-Y-H-A-V-E-R-E-A-L-L-Y-S-T-R-O-N-G-M-A-G-I-C

"Unfortunately, that may not be enough. We're almost ready to end this war. We can't take chances. Armies are less likely to attack a small group in the air than a large group on the ground."

.-.-. (I tapped his hand three times to do the "…" thing that he often does)

"You're starting to talk like me."

E-E-E-E-E-E-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W

"Yeah. Martel, I have every confidence that the elves can protect their city."

B-U-T-N-O-T-T-H-A-T-T-H-E-Y-C-A-N-P-R-O-T-E-C-T-U-S

"I don't take chances like that."

I knew what he meant. The elves might decide that they wanted to leave, and then there would be less magical energy.

O-K-A-Y-B-U-T-W-H-E-N-W-E-R-E-S-A-F-E-Y-O-U-H-A-V-E-T-O-R-E-S-T

"We won't have safety for a long time."

Y-O-U-K-N-O-W-W-H-A-T-I-M-E-A-N

sigh "Okay, Martel. Yuan! Mithos! Get packed! We're leaving!"

Kratos started stuffing Mithos' and Yuan's bags with their possessions.

"We didn't really have to pack, did we? I mean, you always do it faster than us." Yuan can be so cynical sometimes.

Y-U-A-N-T-H-I-S-I-S-N-T-F-U-N-N-Y-L-E-T-S-G-O-W-H-E-N-W-E-G-E-T-O-U-T-O-F-H-E-R-E-T-H-E-N-K-R-A-T-O-S-W-I-L-L-R-E-S-T-A-N-D-T-H-A-T-S-W-H-A-T-W-E-N-E-E-D-T-O-D-O-R-I-G-H-T-N-O-W

"Okay. Hey, Mithos! Get your pack and let's get out of here!"

I squeezed his hand, then grabbed my bag, which Kratos had (conveniently) packed in that time, and ran outside with them.

They got through the Ymir forest in about no time (Quick jump) and boarded the rheairds. They saw the armies. Mithos was about to do Meteor Storm, but Kratos stopped him because "they have mages, too."

I could tell that Kratos valued his life a little higher for the purposes of our quest now that he had made a pact with Origin, but only for the journey. He still considered himself to be of the same status in the group. Finally, we found a safe place to land in the Valley of the Linkite Tree, where the largest and oldest Linkite tree was rooted. It was said that a mysterious comet had crashed there and created the crater. Armies didn't go there because it was too much of a hassle, so we were safe.

Yuan and Mithos pitched their tents while I sat with Kratos, who had finally started to feel sick from Origin's mana. He was sitting down. That was something he'd learned in the army: if you sit down, less blood goes to your head than if you're lying down. He said if he lay down, he would only feel sicker.

I didn't know how to make him feel better, but I made soup and did what I could to make him feel better. Kratos made up a lot of phrases, such as, "I feel like I should be throwing up, but I'm not, and if I did, I would probably feel better." He was also swearing constantly. I guessed that he just wanted to talk about it because it gave him something else to focus on.

D-O-Y-O-U-W-A-N-T-T-O-T-A-L-K-A-B-O-U-T-S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G-E-L-S-E

"Like what? I feel too sick to think about anything else."

H-O-W-A-B-O-U-T-S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G-H-A-P-P-Y

"…"

W-H-A-T-W-A-S-I-T-L-I-K-E-L-I-V-I-N-G-I-N-I-S-E-L-I-A

"Pretty dull. Basically, everyone did the same things every day. I was the teacher in the school, which is so small that the grades aren't separated. Sometimes I practiced using a sword for if it ever came to that… there wasn't much to do."

Y-E-A-H-B-U-T-W-H-A-T-D-I-D-Y-O-U-D-O

"I taught, I cooked, I cleaned, I washed… basic stuff. And I taught about fifteen children of various ages all at the same time."

O-H

"Yeah. It was dull. You don't have to tell me. God, I feel sick."

I-N-E-X-I-R-E

"Wait. Let me go get a piece of paper."

He rummaged in Yuan's bag (Yuan keeps track of their funds, so he always has paper and an ink pen) and found writing materials.

"Okay. Continue."

I-N-E-X-I-R-E-W-E-D-I-D-A-L-O-T-O-F-T-H-E-S-A-M-E-S-T-U-F-F-Y-O-U-D-I-D-T-H-E-N-I-M-E-T-Y-U-A-N-A-N-D

"I don't want to know about your romances. Tell me about Mithos before…"

O-K-A-Y-M-I-T-H-O-S-A-L-W-A-Y-S-G-O-T-C-U-T-A-N-D-S-C-R-A-P-E-D-A-N-D-K-N-O-C-K-E-D-O-U-T-B-E-C-A-U-S-E-H-E-E-X-P-E-R-I-M-E-N-T-E-D-W-I-T-H-M-A-G-I-C-A-N-D-I-W-O-U-L-D-A-L-W-A-Y-S-G-O-T-O-T-H-E-S-T-OR-E-T-O-B-U-Y-L-I-F-E-B-O-T-T-L-E-S-A-N-D-L-E-M-O-N-G-E-L-S-F-O-R-H-I-M

"Heh… yeah, I could've guessed. He really is talented with magic."

I-K-N-O-W-T-H-A-T-S-W-H-Y-I-A-L-W-A-Y-S-H-A-D-T-O-H-E-A-L-H-I-M

"I guess you would know best… is your soup ready yet?"

I went over to stir it and dropped in an apple gel. That would make Kratos feel a little better.

I waited until the gel dissolved, then went back to Kratos and wrote, Y-E-S

"Good. Mithos and Yuan are getting restless. I don't know what you see in him."

I-F-Y-O-U-D-I-D-N-T-F-E-E-L-S-I-C-K-I-W-O-U-L-D-H-A-V-E-W-H-A-C-K-E-D-Y-O-U-J-U-S-T-T-H-E-N

"Why do you think I never mentioned it before?"

I walked up to Mithos and Yuan and wrote in Yuan's hand, D-I-N-N-E-R

"Okay. Thank you, Martel." kiss on the cheek

I smiled.

"Dinner's ready, Mithos."

"Finally!"

I walked back to the fire and dug around in her pack to find the bowls. I ladled soup out for everyone.

Kratos, apparently, had taken my advice about happy thoughts to heart.

"Once when I was posted near a swamp, we forgot to clean our dishes one night. When we woke up, the salamanders had eaten all the stuff we'd left on them. After that, we just left our dishes out every night."

"Cool! What'd they look like?" Mithos is soooooooooooooooooo weird.

"Brown. With the food we got in the army, they looked delicious."

"Kratos, stop telling Mithos stories. No one eats salamanders."

Yuan and I, being healers, were sitting next to Kratos. I felt Kratos sway a little when Yuan shoved him.

T-H-A-T-S-A-S-T-U-P-I-D-G-U-Y-T-H-I-N-G-R-I-G-H-T

"Yes, it's an extremely stupid guy thing. We always washed them in the morning, of course, though."

"What? Where's the fun in that?" Mithos, of course.

"The fun is that we stayed alive."

I returned to my soup. I wasn't interested in a discussion about amphibians, dirty dishes, and hygiene. I was happy that Mithos was acting like a normal person, though, and I knew that Yuan was watching me smile. I looked up. He smiled wider.

I mouthed, "Apple Gel" and pointed to the soup. Yuan started laughing.

Kratos and Mithos looked at him like he was crazy.

"Yuan? Why are you laughing?"

"Not telling you, Kratos. It's good soup, by the way, Martel."

T-H-A-N-K-S

Kratos and Mithos looked at each other like "what are we missing?"

"Yuan, what's wrong with the soup?"

"I'll tell you when you're done. I'll give you a hint, though: Martel is smart and she's reinforced the soup."

Kratos and Mithos now shared a look of fright. I had put my soup on the ground because I was laughing and I didn't trust myself to keep the bowl steady. Kratos and Mithos both put their soup on the ground and looked at me.

"Uh… Martel? Sister-who-I-love-so-much Martel? What was Yuan…?"

T-H-E-R-E-S-A-N-A-P-P-L-E-G-E-L-I-N-T-H-E-S-O-U-P

"Oh, eww!"

"What?"

"She put an apple gel in the soup!"

"Oh. That was smart. Good thinking, Martel."

"But… apples and…"

"Can you even taste it?"

"No, but…"

"Exactly."

Kratos picked up his bowl again. Mithos, apparently, was too disgusted to eat more. He went to bed early.

G-O-O-D-N-I-G-H-T-M-I-T-H-O-S

"G'night."

"Good night."

"'Night, everyone."

When I was sure Mithos was asleep, I started talking again.

"Yeah. I didn't think either of you would mind. Mithos, I didn't know, but… And it was funny, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. And smart."

"Well, it wasn't like I was going to use an orange gel or anything!"

"Oh, God, Martel. Don't mention mana."

"But I didn't. I was only –"

"Same difference."

"If you don't mind me asking… Mithos never reacted like that to the Summon Spirits."

"Mithos has real Elven blood in him. A ground-up piece of metal isn't a substitute for bloodlines. It's better for smaller magic. If I were actually partially Elven, then I would probably be okay with the Pact. But as it is, I'm entirely human. I wasn't made to make pacts with Summon Spirits."

"Oh, and I'm sorry I forgot to ask earlier, but do you want me to make you something to help you sleep tonight?"

"No, that's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Wake me up if you decide differently."

"No, Martel. You haven't gotten enough sleep for weeks. If I need something, I'll get it myself."

"Really, it's no trouble."

"Honestly," Yuan said, "you'd think there was only one healer in our group. I'll make something now, and you can choose whether or not you want to use it."

"Okay."

"And Kratos," I said, "don't stay up with me or anything tonight. You need to rest. I'm sorry I've troubled you two."

"Martel, don't talk like that. You can't sleep, and it's not your fault."

"I feel like such a burden…"

(Kratos) "No, you aren't. Mithos is, but he's made the Pacts, so we need him."

(Yuan) "Martel, you're wonderful. You always seem to be happy. I love seeing you happy. When all this is over, we'll get married, and we'll live together, and everything will be okay again."

"…I know. It's just…"

"It's okay. We understand. You're hurt, and neither of us can blame you for that."

I was starting to cry. "Thank you, both of you. I don't know what I'd do without you."

(Kratos) "Oh, God, I think I need to –"

Kratos ran out of the clearing. We could hear him retching.

"I think I'll go make the sleeping potion. Do you want to come with me, Martel?"

"Uh… I think I'll just try to sleep."

"I'll bore you to sleep. C'mon."

"Okay." It was better than being lonely. I think Yuan realized that.

Kratos reentered the clearing, looking very tired and slightly greenish. Of course, he'd looked greenish all night, but he looked slightly less nauseous now. I half-smiled at him.

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine by myself. Plus, someone needs to guard wonder-boy, here."

I laughed, both at the name for Mithos, and at the suggestion that Kratos could fight at all.

I followed Yuan and we found the ingredients for a sleeping draft, then we returned to the camp. We made the potion and gave it to Kratos.

"It smells disgusting."

"There's nothing weird in it. There are tomatoes and –"

"I hate tomatoes."

"Would you like to try getting to sleep without this?"

"No…"

"Okay then."

long, awkward pause

"Drink it."

"I want to make sure you're asleep first."

"What if I just pretend?"

"Martel…"

"Kratos, you need to sleep! The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner it'll be morning, and the sooner it's morning, the sooner you'll feel better."

"Okay… I'm more worried for you than me, though. You're the one who needs to sleep."

"I always get to sleep eventually."

"Yeah, but you don't get nearly enough. It's affecting your fighting skills."

"Just drink the potion, Kratos!"

He drank it quickly, like it was poison, and in the next few minutes he fell asleep.

"Goodnight, Yuan. See you in the morning."

"I'm worried for you, too, Martel. I'm not going to leave you sitting here."

"Someone needs to be awake enough to cook in the morning."

"Mithos can. Ego-boy can do anything, remember?"

"And Kratos…"

"He'll be better in the morning. Mithos did that too, remember? He felt dizzy and a little nauseous, but then he went to sleep and he felt fine in the morning."

"You should still get some sleep."

"Kratos didn't drink the entire potion. You could have the rest."

"'The rest' is about a teaspoon."

"Better than nothing."

"I guess you're right…"

I grabbed the bottle (a reused Life Bottle) and took the rest of the potion.

"Oh, gosh, it's bitter. I can't stand bitter…"

"But it'll help."

"Yeah, I feel tired…" I crawled into my sleeping bag

"Good. Good night, Martel. I love you. See you in the morning."

"Good night, Yuan. I love you, too."

I heard Yuan walk across the camp (Kratos had doused the fire while we were getting ingredients for the potion), take off his shoes and armor, and crawl into his sleeping bag. I fell asleep then. I was tired, and I wasn't thinking about Mithos at all.

When I lay down, part of me felt… hard. I ignored it.

.-..-..-.

Mithos' high-pitched voice woke me the next day.

"Martel? It's noon. Are you ever going to get up?"

There was dirt next to me, where I wrote, Kratos

"Kratos feels better, so we can travel now."

No

Mithos yanked my pillow out from beneath my head.

I grabbed my bow/staff/thing and swiped at Mithos.

"OW!"

The pillow dropped on my head. I repositioned it and went back to sleep.

…Or, tried to. The next person to talk to me was Yuan (this is sounding a lot like the Flanoir/affection thing isn't it?), who squatted down near my head.

"Wake up, Martel. Come back to the world of living."

Too tired

"Okay." He kissed my head. I could almost feel him smiling that kind smile…

…Then Kratos.

He grabbed my long, loose, bright green hair and pulled up. I shrieked and, not wanting to injure my hair, stood up.

"We should see Maxwell."

I-F-I-W-E-R-E-A-N-Y-O-T-H-E-R-G-I-R-L-Y-O-U-W-O-U-L-D-B-E-D-E-A-D-R-I-G-H-T-N-O-W

"I know."

I-S-H-O-U-L-D-K-I-L-L-Y-O-U-F-O-R-M-Y-H-A-I-R

"And yet, you don't, both because you need the pact with Origin and because I would kill you before you got the chance to kill me."

A-N-D-Y-O-U-C-A-N-S-E-T-U-P-C-A-M-P-F-A-S-T-E-R-T-H-A-N-A-N-Y-O-F-U-S

"Exactly. Come have lunch with us. It's ramen."

O-H-Y-E-A-H-B-E-C-A-U-S-E-W-E-W-E-N-T-T-O-M-I-Z-U-H-O

"Yes."

We ate lunch in relative silence. Kratos decided, since he was the best judge, that we should spend that day checking over their weapons, checking the rheairds for problems, and going over strategies. He had a magitechnological map of the world. He would use it to find Exire.

None of us did much that day. I found out that it was Kratos' idea to wake me up. I shoved him. He hadn't been listening, so he yelled at me.

Mithos went into one of his rants about one pact or another, talking about how no one else could have done it, and I started to cry. Not sobbing, but I couldn't quite blink it all back.

"What's wrong, Martel? I didn't really hurt Shadow. I don't think any of them can really be hurt."

W-H-E-N-I-T-H-I-N-K-O-F-W-H-A-T-Y-O-U-V-E-B-E-C-O-M-E

"Huh? What do you mean, 'what I've become'?"

I-F-Y-O-U-D-O-N-T-K-N-O-W-T-H-E-N-Y-O-U-A-R-E-N-T-A-S-S-M-A-R-T-A-S-I-T-H-O-U-G-H-T

"I'm smart! I've learned over a dozen spells! How am I not smart?"

Y-O-U-D-O-N-T-S-E-E-T-H-A-T-I-M-S-U-F-F-E-R-I-N-G-?

"Are you hurt?"

N-O-T-I-N-A-W-A-Y-T-H-A-T-Y-O-U-C-A-N-S-E-E

"Huh? Martel?"

I was crying. Why do I cry so much? It's so stupid! Yuan came to my rescue.

"Leave her alone, Mithos. Think about what she's said."

We went to Iselia to stock up on supplies. Mithos had been so annoyed (and, therefore, annoying) that Kratos had made the pact with Origin that he was going to make the pact with Maxwell. It was pathetic, really, that the only reason he got to make the pact was his constant whining.

That night (not much happened that day) I felt the hardness I had felt the night before. It had spread, and what had been only on a small part of my chest had now spread over my shoulder.

"Yuan? Yuan, wake up."

"Huh? What time is it?" His voice was really weird, the way it is sometimes in the morning right after you wake up.

"I couldn't tell you this when Kratos and Mithos were awake. Yuan… you really love me, don't you?"

"Martel…"

"You do, right?"

"Of course."

"And… what would you do if I told you I was turning into a statue?"

"Ugh… Martel, it's too late for hypothetical."

"What would you do if I told you that I was turning into a big, turquoise, exsphere-like statue?"

Suddenly, it dawned on Yuan that I wasn't talking in hypothetical.

"But… how?"

"I don't know. My shoulder is still hardening, but my… uh… chest is already rock-hard. It isn't below the skin."

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know. But… when I tried to sleep, I could feel it crawling on me, trying to take up more space. It's disgusting, it's hideous…"

The inn we were staying in had two rooms. Mithos and I had one, Yuan and Kratos had the other. Kratos, always the light sleeper, woke up.

"What is?"

"Uh… nothing. Have you been listening to us?"

"No, I just woke up. What's wrong?"

"Uh… I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you yet. Maybe in the morning."

"Okay."

I went back to my room and curled up under the blankets. I could feel it, like something crawling, creeping down my back, too slowly to notice otherwise. But while I was trying to fall asleep, I had plenty of time. I started to cry, silently so as not to make it hard for Kratos or Yuan to get to sleep. I imagined Yuan next to me. Usually that helped. I wondered if he did something similar. I hugged my pillow, pretending it was him, that I could curl up next to him and everything would be okay. But it wasn't. The blue rock-stuff was going up my neck and down my spine and across my back…

In the morning, I had gotten only about three hours of sleep. I wrote that to Yuan.

Yuan got this determined look on his face and started to walk faster to catch up with Mithos, who was ranting to the air. I held him back. I-T-W-A-S-N-T-H-I-M-I-T-W-A-S-T-H-E-B-L-U-E-S-T-U-F-F

"Oh. How is…?"

I-T-S-S-P-R-E-A-D-A-C-R-O-S-S-M-Y-B-A-C-K-A-N-D-C-O-N-N-E-C-T-E-D-O-V-E-R-T-H-E-S-H-O-U-L-D-E-R-S-A-N-D-I-T-G-O-E-S-D-O-W-N-H-A-L-F-W-A-Y-Y-B-E-T-W-E-E-N-M-Y-K-E-Y-C-R-E-S-T-A-N-D-M-Y-W-A-I-S-T

I pulled the collar of my dress down about half an inch so that he could see the blue, scaly, solid stuff that had crystallized my skin.

"Oh."

A-N-D-I-T-W-E-N-T-U-P-M-Y-N-E-C-K-A-N-D-T-H-A-T-M-A-D-E-M-E-S-H-A-K-E

"Oh, Martel…"

He hugged me, ignoring the fact that my entire chest and that part of my back were solid, and of course Kratos couldn't help but notice, since he was walking behind us.

"Martel, will you tell me what's happened?"

Mithos heard them. "What? What happened?"

N-O-T-H-I-N-G

"Okay. I thought there were monsters behind us or something. Not that I couldn't kill them…"

I went back to Kratos and Yuan.

T-H-E-R-E-S-S-O-M-E-S-O-R-T-O-F-S-O-L-I-D-B-L-U-E-S-C-A-L-E-Y-C-R-Y-S-T-A-L-S-T-U-F-F-T-A-K-I-N-G-O-V-E-R-M-Y-S-K-I-N

"What kind of blue?"

"Kratos! How could you think like that!"

Mithos turned around again. "Like what? Are you three hiding something from me?"

"No, Mithos, go back to your fantasy world of centaurs and dragons and harpies."

"You are hiding something from me!"

"Mithos, it doesn't concern you. There's nothing you can say right now that could influence this."

I-T-S-N-O-T-H-I-N-G-R-E-A-L-L-Y

"Yeah. We'll talk about this tonight, Kratos."

Mithos got mad, and slumped over, and didn't talk to them, but he did grumble to himself.

I-T-S-T-U-R-Q-U-O-I-S-E-A-N-D-S-C-A-L-Y-A-N-D-I-T-S-T-A-K-I-N-G-O-V-E-R-M-Y-B-O-D-Y-A-N-D-I-C-A-N-F-E-E-L-I-T-C-R-A-W-L-I-N-G-O-V-E-R-M-Y-F-L-E-S-H-A-T-N-I-G-H-T-O-R-W-H-E-N-E-V-E-R-I-S-I-T-S-T-I-L-L

"Mithos! We're going to Heimdall! I just remembered, there's something I have to ask the researchers there!"

The conversations turned into whispers. "Kratos, what are you doing?"

"I might be saving Martel's life. If this isn't what I think, they can at least diagnose her."

No response from Mithos, so Kratos started yelling at him again.

"Mithos! We have to turn around! This is critical!"

"If it's so critical, then why can't you tell me?"

"Because if we told you, you'd want to go kill someone, and we don't have time to calm you down. NOW, MITHOS!"

"Okay, okay! I'm going the other way! Calm down!"

"We just may not have very much time left."

"Then let's take the rheairds!"

We all boarded the rheairds and flew to Heimdall. Life there wasn't very different than it had been when we left.

We went to talk to the doctors, who could professionally diagnose me.

About ten minutes later, we walked out of the examining room.

"She has Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium."

Kratos, surprisingly, seemed to know something. "How long does she have before it takes over her skin?"

"Only a few days, I'm afraid. Then –"

"Don't say it. I'll tell them what happens."

"Okay. We would treat it, but we don't seem to have any of the ingredients for the cure (ironic, isn't it?) and… you'll have to get them yourselves. Martel stays here."

Mithos, as always when he was surprised, got mad.

"Why didn't anyone tell me! You never tell me anything anymore!"

I-D-I-D-N-T-T-H-I-N-K-I-T-W-A-S-T-H-I-S-S-E-R-I-O-U-S

The doctors traded a glance like, "what the heck? She talked to us before."

Yuan cut in. "She's only had it for two days! And don't get mad at her! She couldn't sleep last night because of it! It isn't anyone's fault!"

"No," doctor 1 said (nice name, huh?) "You couldn't have known that she'd react to the exsphere."

"WHAT?!"

"Well, only one in every million people can get the disease. I mean, what were the odds that one of those people would be her?"

Standing there, I could feel it creeping, so I started to walk around the room. Yuan looked at me weird, so I wrote,

I-C-A-N-T-S-T-A-N-D-T-O-F-E-E-L-I-T-C-R-E-E-P-I-N-G-D-O-W-N-M-Y-B-O-DY-A-N-D-O-V-E-R-M-Y-S-P-I-N-E

"Oh, Martel…"

He hugged me again. I hugged him back.

I-L-L-B-E-F-I-N-E-I-K-N-O-W-Y-O-U-L-L-G-E-T-T-H-E-S-T-U-F-F-I-K-N-O-W-Y-O-U-W-I-L-L

"It's okay, Martel. You don't have to pretend you aren't afraid. I would offer to help, but… the more people there are searching, the more likely we are to find the items."

"Strangely enough," Doctor 2 cut in, "There are 3 items. We only know where two are."

"Where are the first two?"

"In Lantheon Gorge and the Toize Valley Mine. They've only been mining it for a few years, so it should be expensive, but…"

"We all want to save her. What do we need?"

"You need a Mana Leaf Herb from Lantheon Gorge, zircon from the Toize Valley Mine, and a Mana Fragment. The only place one has ever been found is in the Linkite Valley. Maybe a comet crashed there or something. We don't know if there's still one there, though."

"I'll get the flower," Yuan volunteered. "Then I might be done first, which will be good for Martel."

"And I'll get the Zircon. I know one of the workers in Toize. Mithos, you get the Mana Fragment. You're the most sensitive to mana of all of us."

"Okay."

I-L-L-W-A-I-T-H-E-R-E

(Yuan) "I know this must be hard for you, Martel. I'll be back before midnight."

Kratos walked to the door. "Let's get going. The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll have those items."

Mithos ran towards him and tripped. Rainbow-colored wings sprouted from his back. Everyone gasped.

"What? Why is everyone looking at me?"

Y-O-U-H-A-V-E-W-I-N-G-S-M-I-T-H-O-S

"No I don't, what are you – oh! I can feel them."

T-H-E-Y-R-E-R-A-I-N-B-O-W

"Cool! Let's get going, everyone!"

Kratos and Yuan experimented with their blue wings. Yuan's matched his hair. Apparently, they were retractable. They seemed to be made entirely of light.

"Goodbye, Martel. I love you."

I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U-T-O-O-Y-U-A-N-I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U-A-L-L-P-L-E-A-S-E-T-E-L-L-T-H-E-M-T-H-A-T-F-O-R-M-E-I-F-I-D-I-E

"No, you aren't going to die. We're going to get those ingredients and you're going to live. I'll be back soon, Martel. I love you."

He kissed me and I turned into jelly. I didn't know if I was trembling from fear, or love for him, or both.

G-O-O-D-B-Y-E-M-I-T-H-O-S

G-O-O-D-B-Y-E-K-R-A-T-O-S

G-O-O-D-B-Y-E-Y-U-A-N-I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U

"I love you, too, Martel."

"G'bye, Martel. You'll always be my sister, no matter what." Mithos hugged me, in a brother/sister way, and I hugged him.

"Goodbye, Martel. We'll see each other again soon, though, so why bother?"

O-K-A-Y

They walked out the door and said goodbye again while I waved. Kratos was the only one who just walked forward and didn't look back.

I was crying. Was I going to die? It all seemed so final.

I turned and went back inside and shut the door.

"Um… is there anything I could do?"

"Uh… why didn't you talk to them?"

"I'm just mad at my brother. Now, is there anything I can do?"

"You should sleep."

"When I try to sleep, I can feel it creeping over my skin. That's why I started walking around earlier, because I couldn't stand that feeling. Is there any busywork I could do?"

The doctors looked at each other happily. "Sure. You could sweep. Don't overexert yourself though."

"I haven't been, even when I was walking and fighting and doing magic all day."

I grabbed the broom that was propped against the corner of the walls and started to sweep. "When I'm moving, I can't feel it spreading."

"It is night, though. You should go to bed sometime."

"I won't be able to sleep."

"You should rest anyway."

"Whatever."

Eventually, of course, they made me go to bed. I lay down, and squirmed around a little bit to get myself positioned comfortably, and then I could feel it crawling. Crawling, like there were a million little bugs on my skin that, wherever they walked, my skin would harden over the next twenty-four hours. Slow bugs that took their time now that they'd taken over a significant part of my body. I grabbed the pillow and squeezed it and cried to it and said Yuan's name and pretended it was Yuan. Yuan would never hurt me. He'd come back with the Mana Leaf Herb. I knew he would.

I cry too much. I know I do, but imminent death seems like a decent reason for crying to me.

About twenty minutes later, or perhaps all of eternity, the door opened. It was Yuan, back from Lantheon Gorge. He was mad at the doctors for not telling him about some monster, but when he came to the bed where I appeared to be sleeping, he was as kind and gentle as always.

"Yuan, come here. I need you right now."

"Okay. Do you have a pillow?"

I smiled a little, fluffed my pillow, and flipped it over. Yuan crawled in next to me. Yuan. Yuan, Yuan, Yuan… I held him close.

"Thank you. If I don't say goodbye to you now, I might never get the chance to. See, it's started going up my neck."

"Martel, you're going to live. It's been what? A few minutes? Kratos should be back soon. We'll go to the Linkite Valley, or I could stay here if you want, and help Mithos look for that Mana fragment. There has to be at least one more."

"But what if there isn't? I'd never be able to say goodbye to Mithos. Yuan it's so frustrating! I'm sick, but I feel fine, and I can't do anything because it could spread over my legs and they'd be paralyzed and I wouldn't be cured anyway. I don't want to be so dependent on you…"

"Martel, stop thinking like that. It's all Mithos' fault. He's the one who equipped that exsphere onto you."

"I'm not blaming him. He couldn't have known… And he didn't mean to hurt me."

"Martel, he needs to take some responsibility for his actions. He put it on you even though he knew you didn't want it, so it really is his fault."

I knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted me to see that I had no faults, that I was perfect. He wanted me to stop crying, because it hurt him, too. "I feel so useless, though. You don't know what it's like! Instead of doing something about this, all I could do was move around so that I couldn't feel it!"

"Martel, I do know what it's like. My home was destroyed twice. If you weren't there, we wouldn't have done any of this. Kratos would probably be dead right now if not for you. We're almost ready to save the world. If that's a fault, then it's yours, but I think it's wonderful."

I smiled. I knew he was right. He usually was. It formed a band around my upper arm, and I took my arms in to stay at my chest instead of around Yuan.

"Uh, Martel?"

"I… can't hug you anymore. It's gone to my arms. Or at least, my right arm. It's still on my left shoulder…"

The door opened quietly. Kratos put a piece of coppery, silvery, metallic stuff on the table next to the Mana Leaf Herb. I guessed it was Zircon. Only the Mana Fragment was left, then…

He walked around the bed to see me.

"I thought you'd be awake. Do you… do you want to know about your condition?"

"No. I'd rather just lie here and cry helplessly while other people do their best to help me."

"That's a yes, then?"

"Yeah."

"I'd only ever heard of this. Some elf. Anyway, first it crystallizes the skin. Then it crystallizes all of the victim's internal organs. Last is the brain, though. That's why it didn't go above the neck of your dress even when it was covering your torso. It's… afraid of the head. I don't know why. Maybe it's just taboo. But, the victim can feel everything inside of themselves turning into the same stuff exspheres are made of."

"That's disgusting!"

"Do you think I could make up something like that?"

"No. That's why it's so horrible. I hate being like a little rag doll who can't do anything for herself!"

"You really should sleep, you know."

"Would you like to try with blue stuff crawling across your skin?"

"Ugh, no. I'll go to the Linkite Valley. Yuan, are you coming with me?"

"No, I think Martel needs me here."

"Kratos… if I can't say this again, goodbye. And tell Mithos that, too. He really… he really does love me."

"Okay. If we're not back in the morning, though, that doesn't mean that you'll be dead. Your mouth might be hardened, but the disease… where is it, anyway?"

"Halfway up my neck, on the tops of my arms, and starting to go down my legs."

"You'll be alive in the morning."

"Okay…"

"Goodbye, Martel. I'll see you soon."

I was silent. What if there was only one Mana Fragment? It could be lost forever!

About two hours later, the door slammed open and Kratos and Mithos entered. Mithos ran, and Kratos wrung out his hair and took off his cloak, which he quietly set near the fire to dry. I heard rain outside.

"Martel! Wake up! Yuan! Everyone! We've got it!"

"Mithos, you don't have to wake up the rest of Heimdall. We're already half-elves. Do you want to be exiled?"

"Oh… sorry. Hehe… Well, I have the Mana Fragment!"

"Good!"

Doctors 1 and 2 came into the room. They looked mad originally, but then they saw the three items on the table.

"Good job! Now we can heal Martel!"

They (magically) made the remedy-thing and gave it to me.

It was disgusting. I could feel the blue gunk moving, quickly, towards my Key crest. I sort of squirmed. It itched, too. All five men (we're considering Mithos a man because he's male. It's just generic.) watched me, with my face contorted, squirming, disgusted.

"Her throat's still blue!" Yuan yelled when I calmed down. "I thought you said this would cure it!"

F-E-E-L-I-T-T-H-O-U-G-H-I-T-S-S-O-F-T-I-M-S-U-R-E-I-T-W-I-L-L-G-E-T-S-K-I-N-C-O-L-O-R-E-D-E-V-E-N-T-U-A-L-L-Y-W-H-E-N-I-T-F-A-L-L-S-O-F-F-A-N-D-N-E-W-D-E-A-D-S-K-I-N-R-E-P-L-A-C-E-S-I-T

"Okay. I'm so glad you're healed, Martel!" hug where Mithos yelled, "Group hug!" and joined in but Kratos was just indifferent like always

K-R-A-T-O-S-W-I-L-L-Y-O-U-T-R-A-N-S-L-A-T-E-F-O-R-M-E

"Certainly. I'm going to speak for Martel because she refuses to."

C-O-U-L-D-W-E-S-T-A-Y-H-E-R-E-F-O-R-T-O-N-I-G-H-T-N-O-W-T-H-A-T-I-C-A-N-R-E-S-T-W-E-L-L-B-E-Q-U-I-E-T-A-N-D-W-E-L-L-O-N-L-Y-T-A-K-E-F-O-O-D-F-R-O-M-O-U-R-O-W-N-S-U-P-P-L-I-E-S

"She asks if we can stay here for tonight. We won't be any trouble for you."

"Certainly. Where will you sleep, though?"

"We have sleeping bags. It's nice to not get them muddy, though, which I think is why Martel asked."

"Okay. Sure."

Y-O-U-R-E-T-H-E-B-E-S-T-K-R-A-T-O-S

"Anyone else could have translated for you."

Y-E-A-H-B-U-T-Y-O-U-A-C-T-U-A-L-L-Y-D-I-D-A-N-D-Y-O-U-H-E-L-P-M-E-W-I-T-H-A-L-L-S-O-R-T-S-O-F-T-H-I-N-G-S

"Hehe…" embarrassment

I got my pack from next to the bed and started digging around, but Kratos said, "You should sleep in the bed. You've been through the most. You even have blue skin now. You deserve a good night's sleep."

T-H-A-N-K-S-B-U-T-I-L-L-B-E-F-I-N-E

"Yeah, just like you're fine every night."

R-E-A-L-L-Y-K-R-A-T-O-S-I-L-L-B-E-F-I-N-E

"Okay. You're still sick though. You should get some rest."

I-W-O-U-L-D-I-F-Y-O-U-W-O-U-L-D-L-E-T-M-E-G-E-T-M-Y-S-L-E-E-P-I-N-G-B-A-G

"You're so stubborn… If you don't want the bed, I'll take it. Or, if it would make you feel less isolated, you could sleep in it with Mithos."

I-G-U-E-S-S

"Good. Mithos, you're sleeping in the bed because I want Martel to rest."

"Okay."

He crawled into the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

"You really don't have to give me the bed. I mean, you've been out doing things for me all night. You can use it. You know I'll be alright."

"Really? You haven't been before."

"Kratos…"

"Okay, now that I live in an inverted world where the healers ignore their own advice, I'll let you sleep on the floor."

I couldn't argue with that. I had always told them to sleep, even when I couldn't.

"Kratos, don't be like that…"

"Don't be like what? You have the most common sense of any of us. Every night, you tell us to sleep. You tell us we should, because it will be good for us. But you never get enough sleep. Ever."

If he were anyone else, he would have made a couple of that "every night" point twice. But Kratos was the sort of person who you either listen to, or he knows you aren't. It's hard to ignore him.

"Kratos… I've just gotten over a chronic illness. You expect me to be able to sleep?" It was an excuse. I knew he would see through it, but I also knew I wouldn't be able to sleep anyways.

"In your words, it was 'nothing, really.' Decide what it was."

"It was nothing when I didn't want anyone to worry about me. It was imminent death when I lay down and felt it crawling over my skin."

"But you don't feel it anymore. You should enjoy that you can't feel it."

Yuan, the smart one (who, if Kratos was right and I was wrong, had the second-most common sense), cut both of us off. "You're both right, okay? Martel, either sleep in the bed or don't, and Kratos, let her deal with her own life. She's been through a lot recently, and all of us have, and neither of you would be arguing if you weren't tired. Whatever Martel chooses, Kratos and I are sleeping on the floor anyway, since I don't think either of us fancy sleeping in the same bed as Mithos, so Kratos, just let her live with her decision and let me get some sleep. Martel, I hope you enjoy your sleep without a flesh-eating disease turning you into an exsphere. Good night."

sigh. "Good night, Yuan. Good night, Martel."

"Good night, Kratos. I love you, Yuan. Goodnight."

In the end, perhaps simply to defy Kratos, I pulled out my sleeping bag and slept next to Yuan. It felt bad, though, sleeping on a wooden floor, so I went to the bed.

.-..-..-.

Kratos was annoyingly cheery the next morning, in that "I told you so" way. Very smug. Yuan shoved him a couple times, for his smugness. He didn't mind, because when you feel smug, you usually also feel like annoying people, so he seemed delighted that he was annoying Yuan so much.

We thanked the doctors, payed their fee, went through the Ymir Forest, and boarded the Rheairds. Kratos took out his little digitalized map, which seemed to emit light, and led us straight to Exire. Of course, Exire wasn't the same city we'd left. It was lopsided because one of the floating mechanisms had blown, and all the pretty mold was black or brown. Some of the buildings were just debris, or partially so. I ran to where my house had been. One side of the roof and some of the wall had fallen in. Yuan's house? It was fine. It was on the lower level, which hadn't taken as much damage. His pretty lantern was blown up, though. I could see some of the glass shards on the ground, and was suddenly very glad that I was wearing metal boots.

After that, we went to see Maxwell. Each of us took one gem from the four we would need. Maxwell was prepared to fight four people. He was ready for us.

It was hard, and we all died at least once (or got knocked out; whatever), even Mithos. Even Yuan, even Kratos, even me. And I found out that yeah, it did feel like putting your head through a meat grinder. In a battle with the most powerful Summon Spirit, though, you don't really tend to care. You just go along with the battle, doing what you need to. Then, when it's all done, you realize that you have this horrible headache.

So, Mithos the Whiner made the pact with Maxwell.

And all was well in his world.

That night, we had set up a fire with some of the brown moss and destroyed furniture. We were sitting in Mithos' and my old house.

Mithos, dizzy from the pact with Maxwell, went to sleep early in what used to be our bedroom.

As always, I'll pick up from when I started to speak.

"Kratos, you've seemed… troubled since we went to Iselia."

"I'd prefer not to talk about it."

"Okay. If you ever do, I'm willing to listen. Yuan, will you teach me that new healing spell you learned today?"

"Sure."

He taught me the motions, the runes, the name of the spell (which I'd forgotten) and what it did. Of course, although no one needed it, I went out and tried it.

"Healing Circle!"

"Good job, Martel!"

"Hehe. Thanks!"

"Let's go in and get some sleep."

"Okay!"

I had a restful night. Mithos wasn't on my mind. Tomorrow he would begin gloating, though.

.-..-..-.

In the morning, we went down to the Exire refugee camp and saw some of our friends. Or, Mithos, Yuan, and I did. Kratos got to meet some of our friends, but he didn't know any of them.

Most surprising was seeing the little girl who I used to babysit, Spiritua. She had just lost a tooth. She was still just as adorable as I'd remembered. She'd grown, though. Little kids do that.

.-..-..-.

I hadn't been thinking about my feminine… uh… stuff. I get really bad cramps. None of the guys understood. Mithos thought I had the flu. Yuan thought I had some sort of stomach virus. Kratos though it might be from the Chronic Angelus Whatsits. I told them all it was normal, it happened a lot. That made them really worried for me. I said it happened every month it couldn't be helped, HINT, HINT. Still, none of them understood. Actually, I think Yuan might, but he probably doesn't want to ask if it is in case he's wrong because that would be embarrassing.

Why couldn't this have happened a couple days ago when I had the Angel stuff? Then I could have gotten all of it over with. But, life goes on. It has for women for centuries. We're now traveling to see Origin again, to ask him to add his power to Mithos' swords. Then we'll talk to the King of Tethe'alla in Meltokio to get him to end the war with Sylvarant. Then we'll talk to the king of Sylvarant in Palmacosta to get him to end the war with Tethe'alla. Then we'll be done and Yuan and I will get married, and maybe have kids, and help to rebuild Exire.

Mithos has done a peculiar thing. He found a space in Tethe'alla and marked it with runes, then he put one of his swords in the center. He did the exact same thing for a space in Sylvarant. There were runes for protection, separation, and coming together. The protection I can understand, since it seems like a big spell. The only think I can think of for the separation and coming together is… no, Mithos isn't stupid enough to split the world into two.

My assumptions came true. Mithos is a lot dumber than I thought. He's created a magical link between the two worlds (well, now thery're worlds), Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. Exire, by the way, happened to be on the Tethe'alla side when we split. Flanoir and those islands are in Tethe'alla, and the Island of Cats, where the wildcats live, is on Sylvarant. It's all connected through these circles of land, which Mithos calls Derris-Kharlan, after the comet. He's linked the two worlds with the Eternal Sword (yes, there's only one now) which is what he now calls his pretty, purple sword. We can travel between the worlds through Derris-Kharlan. Hopefully, Mithos won't start looking at astrological runes and call the comet. Even he can't be that stupid. But then, that was what I thought about the big circle I'm sitting in now that connects the worlds. Gnome made a platform, and I'm sitting on the edge of it. We're paying a lawyer to write papers for the two Kings to sign saying that the war will be over. They also say that Mithos Yggdrasil, Martel Yggdrasil, Kratos Auron, and Yuan Evetal will rule the two new worlds. I like my name that I'm going to have soon: Martel Evetal. It almost rhymes. Hehehe…

Mithos signed the contracts, and so did the kings, so now I'm a queen. Yuan and I are going to be married in a church, which is the same religion that Kratos prays to. None of us half-elves really care, and Kratos is our best friend, and he does care, so that's what we're doing. I get a new dress, new shoes, and all sorts of nice stuff. Mithos is lending me his bracelets because they look good with white. But then, what doesn't?

.-..-..-.

This entry in Martel's journal is being written by Yuan.

Martel has been brutally murdered by a man from Ozette. She had just begun talking to Mithos again.

It happened this way: no, I can't write this. I'm going to give this to Kratos. He doesn't feel the same as me or Mithos.

Please forgive me for what I tried to do last night, Martel.

.-..-..-.

Ten years in the army teaches you that life, more than anything else, is temporary. It also teaches you to deal with it or become an emotional wreck for the rest of your life. Martel never considered me entirely human because of that; she would have taken the second option.

The day after the peace treaties were signed was supposed to be a happy day. Martel was talking to Mithos again and she and Yuan were going to work on their wedding plans. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.

As we were walking out of Derris-Kharlan, the ground where Mithos had connected and separated the world(s?), a man, presumably from the nearby town of Ozette, ran up to us, yelled "Kill the man who separated the worlds!" and stabbed Martel.

Yuan and I used our healing arts to their fullest extent. It wasn't enough to save Martel, but she died without pain, which in my experience, is good.

I should probably record her dying words in this book. Perhaps then she can be remembered forever. You see, I've noticed that Mithos hasn't grown at all, that my hair hasn't grown, and that none of our bodies aren't changing at all. Perhaps, since exspheres are a new technology, these ones that are meant to make us live longer really make us live forever. I don't know if I would be willing to live forever, but only time will truly reveal that.

Anyway, I remember Martel's words exactly. They were, "I love you, Mithos. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. I always hoped… I always wanted to see a world without discrimination. Yuan, I hate to leave you. Don't blame yourself for my death. And Kratos, Thank you for… being… there…"

Yuan, of course, will start thinking that it was all his fault. It was no one's but an unknown man who mistook Martel for Mithos. Or perhaps he thought that living without his older sister, the only person left who really loved him, would kill him inside and he would be dead for the rest of his life. But the rest of his life may be all of eternity.

Last night (this being the day after Martel's death) Yuan tried to kill himself. Knowing that Mithos would have worn himself out from crying and that Yuan might actually consider death as an option, I slept in Yuan's tent. I'm relatively certain that we woke up Mithos because he keeps glancing at Yuan.

A few nights ago, Martel asked me why I was troubled. I didn't answer her because she was already so unhappy. When we destroy her exsphere, if her spirit wants to read this, then it is certainly welcome to. I would feel horrible to keep a secret from an already-troubled soul, but Martel, you should know that this next passage will be depressing.

When I lived in Iselia, I had a girlfriend named Isabella. She was a half-elf, but neither of us minded. Did you know, Martel, that the reason why Yuan was so frustrated was that half-elves can't join the army? After his home was destroyed, he might have wanted to, but it would have been impossible.

Isabella and I were happy together. Unfortunately, I was called away to the army. I learned a lot there, including what you already know about the salamanders. When we went back to Iselia, I saw Isabella with another man. She runs the inn. When we went there, she hardly recognized me. She told me that she was happy to see me again, but otherwise showed no affection toward me, like I was simply another customer. Ten years in the army killed me partway, but that almost finished it. I may never love another in the same way. I don't know. Maybe five thousand years from now, but not soon. And I know, Martel, that I'll never meet anyone like you. You brought so much joy to all of us.

If you want to know what Mithos and Yuan are doing right now, Mithos is having a fit of hysterics and Yuan is staring into space. It seems that the initial shock is over for Yuan and now he's just depressed, but Mithos' mind is in the same state as yesterday. If you were here and someone else had been murdered, you would cry on and off, and you would try to cheer everyone up, because we all know that you can't be happy if we aren't. Or maybe you would go into hysterics like Mithos. Perhaps it would depend on who died. Since this is a pretty morbid subject, perhaps I should tell you about my army friend who trained a chipmunk…

…So, there are two people who were the most likely to get angelus toxicosis in Mithos' group: Kratos because he's human and Martel because she's female, and therefore expendable. I say that it's Martel because she shares a certain connection with Colette.

It seems like everyone's mom in that game is either dead or crazy. Lloyd: dead. Colette: most likely dead. Genis and Raine: crazy. Zelos and Seles: dead. Kratos: definitely dead. Regal: never mentioned, so I don't know. Presea and Alicia: dead. Yuan: dead. Mithos and Martel: long dead. Sheena: dead. Cacao: dead. Seriously, are there any moms other than Cacao who live on to lead normal lives? If you can think of one, please tell me. I'd love to know.

So yeah, here's my version of Martel's depressing story. Colette probably hasn't been hiding her Angelus Crystal stuff for long. Since I didn't stay in any inns from the dragon fight in the sky (Kratos mentions "the toxicosis') to Colette getting shot at the Iselia ranch, either she's had it for a long time or it spreads quickly. For the sake of my story, it spreads quickly.