Chapter 18

(Mree. The last Zelos one before the end chapter. I suppose you're disappointed, eh? haha, I had to rewrite disappointed like six times before I got the spelling right, and even now I'm not sure. Is it two s's and ONE p? ah screw it Nah, probably not, I sux at Zelos anyways. Mree... On with teh fic!)

"I trusted you!" She cried, backing up, the horrified look ever-present. "No!" She murmured, nearly too shocked to believe it.

"Sheena, I-"

"NO!"

"Sheena, please!"

"NOOO!" With each word spoken, she backed up more and more, horror-struck and wishing to be far away from the man who was responsible for the death of her comrades.

"Wait! Sheena!" His voice held a desperation like no other, and he rose to his feet, stepping to close the gap between them once more. Sheena only stumbled backwards faster.

"Get away from me!" She cried. He stepped closer once more.

"Sheena…" His voice was weak, for he'd given up hope that she would return to him. He'd already lost, lost it all.

"I hate you!" She spat with tears in her eyes. Up till now things had seemed familiar. Familiar, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't have changed how it ended. But here was where things changed. Instead of fleeing as he'd expected her to do, she drew her cards, and behind her appeared Kage, the smirk still present.

"Feel the pain, Zelos. Feel the pain that you've had coming for a long time." His voice echoed, as if coming from the sky and the earth itself. Faster than even Zelos had thought possible, the brunette's double-bladed staff was swinging straight at his throat...

The redhead shot straight up in bed. He frantically looked around him a moment, searching out his attacker, before realizing he had been dreaming. 'But it seemed so real... It seemed like I was there once more, that she was leaving me for the second time...' And the pain had doubled, as if she truly had left him twice. He collapsed back down onto the bed, half wishing to return to the dream and let his throat be slit as Kage had intended. Kage... It was all his fault. And a new feeling formed within the redhead's mind, parting the pain like the red sea and coming straight to his attention. Vengeance. It was too late to get Sheena back; she already hated him. Yet Kage was still out there somewhere, on the loose… And he needed to pay for all the trouble he'd caused. For forcing him to aid in the destruction of Mizuho, for giving the one he cared for most a reason to despise him... For hurting her when he'd promised he wouldn't.

"You said you'd spare her, you bastard!" Zelos roared to the sky, hoping his words or even the general feeling behind them would somehow reach the man who'd sent his life to hell in a handbasket. "But you couldn't leave well enough alone, now could you? You couldn't let a single one escape, one that meant so much… to me…" The rage in his words, as well as the volume, faded away at his last sentence. Though the need for vengeance was still there, the hurt had recovered from it's brief interruption and had began tearing at his mind and soul once more. It was then that he knew what he had to do. He had to find Kage, to kill him. Kill him before he killed Sheena.

It was that thought that got him out of bed, into his shoes, down the seemingly endless stairs, and out onto the town. In fact, it was that thought that would keep him going for the next few days, and the massive series of events that would occur. He knew not of those events when he set out; no, he just knew what he had to do.

Down the streets he strode, his jaw set in determination and his eyes distant yet focused at the same time. Any who crossed his path could tell he was a man on a mission, and they steered clear of his path. Even his hunnies left him be that morning, somewhat shocked at the sudden change in their Zelos. Yet a familiar shine to his right caught his eye. He paused a moment, turning to look at what caught his attention, and found himself in front of the formal attire store. The shine that had caught his eye was the diamond-clad evening gown on the foremost mannequin in the window display, the gown that had been there for as long as he could remember. He'd always wondered if it was there to attract customers, or because it just couldn't sell. But that didn't matter anymore.

As if in a trance, the redhead stepped slowly closer to the window, placing his hand softly on the glass. He closed his cerulean eyes, trying to remember the joy indescribable by words that had shone on Sheena's face when he'd given her her formal attire… Yet instead, that look of hatred pushed forth, and he snapped his eyes open frantically to escape it. Now, he merely gazed absently in the window, longing for what once was. If he could see her smile just one more time…

"Are you gonna stand there gawking or are you gonna come in and pay a visit?" Scolded the keeper of the shop, though her eyes were smiling warmly.

"Rose…" He murmured, for some reason unable to meet her gaze.

"Hmm? What's troubling you, Chosen One? Come in, come in, we'll discuss it over a cup of warm tea and honey." He turned and gazed off down the street, in the direction he was headed, and knew he had to continue to head. But vengeance could wait a half hour, couldn't it? It had been far too long since he'd last sat in the back rooms of her shop on her cloudlike couch, drinking her delicious tea and honey. He didn't know what it was, but the tea tasted magical… If that was even possible. Turning back to Rose, he nodded, and allowed her to usher him inside. She locked the door behind them, rising to her tiptoes to flip the 'open' sign to 'closed'. He followed silently as she led him through the door at the back of the shop and into her quaint but cozy living room.

"Do sit down, I'll go fetch some tea." She prompted, before turning to scurry from the room. Zelos did as he was told, sinking gratefully into lush crimson cushions of her loveseat couch. Even his own couches, made by Tethe'alla's finest furnishers and such, had never felt this soft. This was like resting on a cloud… He'd always wondered what it would be like to sleep on a cloud. The Chosen had once considered trying it, but it wasn't worth that chill, that loneliness that came with his wings. He wouldn't have been able to enjoy it in that altered state anyways… 'Y'know, that feeling I get when I use my wings is kinda like how I'm feeling now... Except that feeling is cold, and this one is hot, like a stab in the stomach. But it's that same feeling, like I'm completely and totally alone...'

"Come now, drink this, and tell me what's wrong." Insisted Rose, her voice bringing Zelos from his thoughts with a start. He accepted the tea she held out to him, letting the smooth honeyed substance slide down his throat and relishing it a moment before returning his attention to the shopkeeper.

"Nothing's wrong…" Though with that tone of voice, he couldn't even convince himself.

"Nothing wrong, my boot! Of course there's something wrong. I've never seen you look so dead since your mum-…" She trailed off right there, eyes wide in surprise. She'd almost slipped. Last time she'd mentioned anything of his mother, he'd left then and there. She saw the Chosen immediately tense up, and she fidgeted nervously with her seamstress's apron. They stayed this way for a short while before he relaxed, a dry smile on his lips.

"When did you get off talking to your Chosen like that?" He teased, or attempted to, though his voice was nowhere near teasing.

"Well pardon me for caring, O' Almighty Chosen." She bantered back, but it didn't even earn one of his usually abundant grins. She sighed softly. "If you're not going to tell me, that's fine. Now…" She paused, looking about for a change of subject, to add a lighter mood to the conversation. Her eyes fell on the pattern he'd given her for Sheena's apparel. "Now where's that Sheena lass of yours? You're scarcely without her these days." His eyes filled with indescribable pain, and she knew she'd said the wrong thing.

"Gone…" In one grief-stricken word, he told her all she needed to know. She placed a comforting hand on his.

"Shame, really. I liked that one…" She murmured, her voice filled with sadness. Her last statement was really saying something, for he knew how she despised most of the floozies he'd brought into her shop in the past two years. He lifted his eyes to meet her own.

"So did I." He softly replied, and the pain in his voice nearly broke the elder woman's heart. Silence enveloped the pair for the next few minutes, a silence nearly as heavy as his grief. At last the shopkeeper managed to break it.

"So where are you off to now?" She quietly questioned.

"I'm off to kill the one responsible, the one that got us into this mess." In his voice was a determination she'd never heard before. She knew right then that he'd either kill this man he sought, or die trying. So she didn't try and talk him out of it; instead, she merely nodded. "I need to go…" He started to rise, having finished his tea. She brought her hand up to his as he rose, signaling him to pause.

"Chosen One… If she loves you, she will return to you. No matter what you've done, she will return." For a moment, the two's eyes locked. Then, slowly, he nodded. And the Chosen's journey was underway once more.

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Unhurriedly but purposefully, he followed the path winding through the Gaoracchia Forest. He was heading for Mizuho, though what drew him there he didn't know. Perhaps he had to see what sort of destruction they had truly caused; perhaps he thought to find clues there. It didn't really matter why, he just knew he was going. The trees themselves seemed to call him, draw him in the right path. Or was he just going crazy?

"Help! Somebody, help me!" Cried a voice from somewhere nearby. The redhead's heart leapt to his throat. He knew that voice. And he never thought he'd hear it again.

Before he could even process what was happening, he'd set off at speeds only a seraph could reach, tearing through the forest swiftly and violently in a mad scramble to save the one he knew that voice belonged to. It didn't occur to him that she'd reject his help in spite, though in all likelihood she would; he just knew he had to get there, and fast.

"Help! Someone, please help!" The voice was frantic, and now so was Zelos, a red-crested blur through the trees. It seemed to be coming from the clearing up ahead… Yet when he raced into it's light, nobody was there.

The clearing was completely empty. Not even a bird or a bee went about their business here. The forest was silent… too silent. Suddenly, an all to familiar muscled brunette stepped from behind a tree.

"Welcome, Chosen One."

(Ooooh, somebody's gonna get their ash kicked. That's ass with a lisp, by the way. I'm in a crazy mood right now. I've been switching off a British accent and a Jamaican one all day. xD)