Phoenixfire: Don't laugh at me… but the OC featured in this chapter is my Halloween costume this year. I couldn't think of anything else to do.

YamiPhoenixfire: You're lazy.

Phoenixfire: Hey, it's not my fault that there was nothing good at Wal-Mart to tear to pieces and make into a costume! And I REFUSE to be a wood nymph again!

YamiPhoenixfire: Yeah, yeah…

Phoenixfire: Grrr!

Disclaimer: Seeing as Yami's last attempt at a hostile takeover attempt failed miserably (luckily I was able to remove her before people started poking through the ashes that were left over after she got shot) I still don't own Baten Kaitos.

YamiPhoenixfire: Hey, I thought we agreed that you weren't going to mention that!

Phoenixfire: Well, that's what you get for making fun of me! (sticks out tongue and runs away)

YamiPhoenixfire: You… little… BRAT! (pulls out Anti-Good wards and starts to pursue)

Chapter Seventeen: A Crown of Roses

It was night now. Honor could tell. She had been on the roof long enough to notice the slight variations between the color of the green sky when it was day, and it's slightly darker night shade.

"Thought I'd find you here," sighed a woman from behind her. "Seems like exactly the sort of noble thing you'd do, Honor. Sitting up here powering the barrier, protecting those idiots who didn't give a shit about us when we were whole and trying to protect them. This is a fool's errand. Once the body dies, you'll run out of power eventually."

"But I can make a difference while I still have the chance, can't I?" Honor snapped. "What are you doing here, sister?"

The other woman advanced. Honor didn't need to turn around to know what she looked like; black hair the same length as her own, black sleeveless dress that came down to her knees, black boots, black cape. A black glove on her left arm that extended from her mid forearm and cut off at her fingers. Black roses, a crown on her head. A black bow in her right hand and a quiver full of arrows hanging from her waist. Golden eyes.

"I have a request. The power of the barriers belongs to all of us, but you siphoned off the energy of four of them just so that you could power this… lesson in stupidity. I only want you to share some of that power with me, Honor. One ninth. I am entitled to my share."

"The power shall only be used for its original purpose. Unless you wish to make your own barrier as Memory did, I will not give you one drop of the power."

"Pah! Barriers and wardings! They're the reason that we're in this mess to begin with! What's the point in it all? No one will ever appreciate all the toil we put into keeping them safe… they never do! All they do is yell and yell and yell! Never once do we get any acknowledgement for our hard work! Doesn't it frustrate you, Honor? That no one knows or cares that you're sitting up here day and night, doing nothing but holding the barrier intact? Don't you want their respect? Their adoration for your sacrifice? Don't you want to be loved?"

"It is you, Love, who needs these things. I neither desire nor understand them. My duty is enough for me. Keeping my word, aiding others, this is what sustains me. I require nothing else out of life."

"Bah! Vengeance is right about you! You are the biggest bore on God's green earth! Cold-hearted, miserly bitch…" Honor heard the door slam, and hoped that Love would leave the hospital without bashing in someone's skull. She could be as passionate as Rage when given a reason to be… and she'd certainly been given reason, when…

Not that Honor could remember. She knew bits and pieces that pertained to her, nothing more of the time when they had been whole. That was how she knew and recalled her duty. Perhaps she could ask Memory why Love was so preoccupied with the thoughts of others…?

No. It was not her duty to inquire into Love's affairs.

"Wow, someone has anger management problems…" sighed yet another female voice. Honor did recognize the voice vaguely, but could not place it, and so did not respond. "Those flowers she was wearing smelled beautiful, though. I can still smell them, as a matter of fact. Where did she find roses, much less black ones, that are still growing and healthy?"

"Those roses are special. You can only smell them if you have been in love before."

"Really? Can you smell them?"

"No."

"Ah…" the girl walked over and placed a tray of food in front of her. "Some guy working here told me that you've been sitting up here all day. I figured that you could use some food to keep your strength up. Hungry?" the girl asked.

"I do not eat."

The girl sighed, shaking her head sadly. She wore half a silver bird on a piece of black ribbon around her neck. The bird looked familiar to Honor, but again she could not place it. "Look, whatever your name is…"

"Honor."

"Okay… Honor. I know that you have something to do with my best friend, Astarael. You look just like her. So you might as well spill. What are you?"

"…Memory told me once, what we are. I know nothing outside of what she told me, friend of Astarael, so ask me no questions. I will only say this once, so do not expect me to repeat myself…"

"Owwww," Kalas groaned, trying to clutch his head,

"Don't touch it yet," Ayme snarled. "It's still healing."

"What do you mean, it's still healing?" Kalas groaned, cracking his eyes open. Light blinded him, so he quickly squeezed his eyes shut. The last thing he remembered was using a Large Fire Magnus to get rid of the people in blue suits who had tackled Folon, and then…

…nothing.

"You were clipped on the side of the head by a bullet after you were distracted by Folon's idiocy."

"And for the record, I didn't need your help!" Folon snapped from somewhere to Kalas's left.

"Yeah right," Ayme snorted. "Anyway, you went down, and once that happened… things sort of fell apart. Someone got the bright idea of gassing us. Folon and I couldn't do anything after that. I think we're awfully lucky that they haven't figured out what Magnus do yet, or we wouldn't have been able to heal you and you probably would have bled to death."

Kalas opened his eyes (the light wasn't nearly as blinding this time) and looked askance at Ayme. "Why did you save me?"

"Because, sadly, you're friends with our boss. And, if we get a chance to fight again, we can use you as a meat shield."

"Wow. Thanks," Kalas replied sarcastically. "Wait, you said that they don't know what Magnus do?"

"Don't use 'em here, apparently. Lucky for us. You especially," Folon replied.

"Yeah. So… any ideas for getting out of here?" Kalas asked.

"Of course," Ayme replied, holding up an Escape Magnus. "An Imperial Soldier is always prepared."

Ayme activated the Escape Magnus, and the three of them materialized outside of their cell, scaring the heck out of the poor newbie police officer who had been sent to feed them. Wasting no time with petty things such as shock, Folon pinned the poor man to the wall, sending the platter of rather unappetizing food (suspiciously stale-looking bread, bananas that were more than ripe, and water of questionable purity) crashing to the ground.

"Where are our weapons?" Folon growled

"I… I… I won't tell you!" the man stuttered.

"Wrong answer!" Folon exclaimed cheerily as he bashed the man into the wall. The poor policeman slumped in Folon's grip, clearly unconscious. "Pfft, lightweight."

"Smooth, Folon. NOW how are we supposed to get our weapons back?" Ayme hissed, hitting the other Imperial over the head.

"OW! That…" Folon swallowed his complaints as he saw Ayme raise her fist again. "Um… I guess we'll just have to start walking." His two companions groaned and rolled their eyes, and hoped that the complex that they had been imprisoned in wasn't too big.

"…We are the shards of Astarael's soul, which was shattered when she overextended her energy. There are nine of us. Myself, the woman you just saw, Love…"

"That was love?" Selih gasped. Love was supposed to be… pretty and red and pink, not black and depressing with anger management problems.

"Yes. The other seven are Rage, Kindness, Memory, Wisdom, Vengeance, Despair, and Hope. We vary in strength and temperament, but we are all soul shards, given the ability to physically manifest ourselves on this plane of existence by the Spirit Cards we absorbed. We each have an allotted amount of energy. Once we use it up, we will lose our physical forms."

"Is there any way to… put you back together?" Selih asked hesitantly.

"The Cardbearer can re-unite us."

"Cardbearer? Who's that?"

"I do not know. It is not part of my duty."

"Somehow… I knew that you were going to say that," Selih sighed, getting up. She actually had a fairly good guess as to who the 'Cardbearer' was… she just had no idea how to reach him.

"Hey! It's Astarael!" shouted one of the two boys looking at her.

"You sure that's her? Her hair's all weird and streaky…"

"Course I am! How many people do you see with yellow eyes?" The young woman said nothing, she merely stared at them. They were partially right, after all.

One ninth to be exact.

"Hello, bitch. I still haven't gotten the chance to repay you for getting me suspended," grunted the guy who seemed to be the leader. The golden-eyed woman narrowed her eyes, now she remembered the idiot. It was vague, but she definitely remembered him punching her and knocking her into a locker.

Normally, a trivial thing, something not even worth wasting her time on. But he was clearly trying to pick a fight with her, and it went against her instincts to let things slide.

So she would fight. If he messed up her plans, she could always come back to kill him later. Wasn't like he could get very far as long as the barrier was up.

"Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and incinerate it while you're still walking across. It would be doing the world a favor, trust me on this one," she sighed. She didn't bother unwinding her weapon; that was reserved for worthy opponents.

"What… did you just say?"

"I said that your complaints against me are trivial and unimportant. Your pride has been wounded, nothing more. I have no desire for revenge against you. You are wasting my time. Get out of my way."

"You… die, you little…!" he came charging at her, winding up for a haymaker.

Laughable.

She waited until the foolish boy was nearly upon her, and then stepped neatly out of the way. As he barreled past her, she hit him with a well-timed elbow strike that landed just to the left of his spine. He flew forward several feet and collapsed in a heap, clutching his back.

"Get your friend to a doctor. He's probably bleeding internally," she snapped at the second, much smaller boy.

"Wh-who are you?" he stuttered.

"My name… is no concern of yours," she said coldly, turning to leave. Her red and turquoise shoulder length hair fanned out behind her even though there was no wind, and the boy found himself staring at the broken scales etched in crimson on the back of her aqua jacket as she walked off into the gloom.

Phoenixfire: Urk… sub-par yet again…

YamiPhoenixfire: Yaay! My pessimism has rubbed off on you!

Phoenixfire: That's not the only thing that's rubbed off… (rubs burn marks from the wards with Aloe cream) ANYWAY, since this was SUPPOSED to be a Halloween chapter, I'm going to do something to make up for the late update…

(There are ,muffled curses from behind a red curtain that somehow magically appeared in Phoenixfire's bedroom) Yes, I'm going to do a Baten Kaitos Halloween! (Snaps her fingers. A cloud o fsmoke surrounds her. When it disappears, she'd dressed up as Love) And first out is… Geldoblame!

Geldoblame: I refuse to come out! This is humiliating!

Phoenixfire: Do you wish to become intimately acquainted with my Anti-Evil wards?

Geldoblame: No! (he dashes out onto the stage, dressed in a clown costume)

Phoenixfire: Unoriginal, I know. But really, the costume is just an excuse to do THIS! (snaps her fingers. A group of kindergarteners armed with pies appear) Everyone who pegs the mean old man gets free candy!

Kindergarten Horde: CANDY! (They throw the pies at Geldoblame and chase him out of the room)

Phoenixfire: Next up is… Melodia! (Melodia walks out. She's dressed up as Aura from the .Hack series)

Melodia: Why, dare I ask?

Phoenixfire: Don't look at me, this was Yami's idea.

YamiPhoenixfire: (Claps hands. Data bug appears)

Melodia: (stares) What kind of game does a monster like that pop out of?

YamiPhoenixfire: One that's on crack. You'd better start running, they're invincible without the Key of the Twilight.

Melodia: And why would that thing want to chase me?

YamiPhoenixfire: 'Cause it thinks you HAVE the Key of the Twilight.

Melodia: (curses. Data Bug chases her out of the room)

Phoenixfire: Okay… next up are… Ayme and Folon!

(Both of them walk out, looking slightly nervous. Folon is dressed up as Inuyasha and Ayme is Kikyo.)

YamiPhoenixfire: Don't look like that, nothing's going to happen to you.

Phoenixfire: Yeah, we've only got it out for Melodia, Geldoblame, and Barnette.

Ayme: Okay… so why did you dress us up?

Phoenixfire: To amuse the readers. (Whisper) also, I think the costumes fit. Inuyasha is a loudmouth and a bit of a jerk and Kikyo is a sadistic bitch. Perfectly suited.

Ayme: What did you say? (draws arrow)

Phoenixfire: Oooh, scary… you do realize that those are plastic, right?

YamiPhoenixfire: Get going before we recall the Kindergarten Horde and sick them on you. (Wisely, they exit)

Phoenixfire: Okay, next up… the heroes of Baten Kaitos! (All six of them walk out. Kalas is Hector from FE7, Xelha is Princess Zelda from the Zelda games, Lyude is Vash from Trigun, Savyna is Raven from Teen Titans, Gibari is Wakka from Final Fantasy X, and Mizuti is… a Deku Scrub, also from the Zelda games) (urk, couldn't think of anything that fit Mizuti…)

Kalas: Why am I…?

Phoenixfire: Oh Kalas, don't complain. You and Hector are so much alike.

YamiPhoenixfire: You both have blue hair…

Phoenixfire: You're both incredibly blunt…

YamiPhoenixfire: And you both solve your problems with violence. It's a perfect match.

Kalas: What? Take that back! (brandishes plastic axe)

Xelha: (sighs) Kalas, you're just proving them right.

Kalas: So says you, Miss Damsel in Distress!

Xelha: I am not!

Mizuti: Why does the Great Mizuti have such a generic costume?

Phoenixfire: Because the Great Mizuti is so… unique… that neither of us could think up a good costume.

YamiPhoenixfire: Okay, wrapping things up… come on out, Barnette!

(silence)

Xelha: Um… I think that she might have run away…

Phoenixfire: Grr… she was warned about that…

(From somewhere outside…)

: TRINITY LIMIT!

(Back inside)

Xelha: What was that?

Phoenixfire: Um…. I kinda dressed her up as Malefecent… and cursed the costume so that she couldn't take it off… um, I guess that Sora, Donald, and Goofy found her… yeah… (quails at the angry look in Xelha's eyes) um… on to reviewer responses… yeah…

Reviewer Responses

Blooangel: Yes, everything is funny after midnight. Personally… I don't really have a strong opinion on Xelha. I can see why people hate her, even though I don't feel that way myself.

Luna-Starr: (claps hands) Yaay, you figured it out! Although, that IS only half of it…

Iname as One: (claps hands) and Iname gets the other half. Can you update your story when your course work lets up? (puppy dog eyes)

Vanya the Elven Maiden of the Valar: Astarael is in the Hospital. But Despair is part of Astarael, and she, more than any other 'aspect' (my term for them) tends to refer to herself as such.

Kill Xelha soon? 0o… violent, aren't you?

Karina Gomez: Teen Titans was part of my inspiration for this idea. Congrats on your Bio grade.

Hmm… a battle between DD and the Authoress-eating dogs. I wonder who will win?

Katrina Ice Angel of Darkness: Yup, they've been there for like, an hour, and people are already trying to arrest them. Poor guys.

Next Chapter: Kalas will discover his 'evil twin'. Rana will learn never to underestimate the power of jewelry. And Xelha will meet an old friend. Sort of.