Sorry for the long wait. I've been obsessed with Star Ocean fics all summer and when I tried to start this chapter, all I could think about was Albel and Nel. Anyway, I've started college and the free time I have outside of home clears my head enough for me to continue writing my other stories so hopefully the updates will come in a little faster.

Disclaimer: Sorceress Myst does not own (insert video game/Anime title) or any of its characters. She especially does not own (insert favorite couple from chosen title), nor does she own (insert form of currency).

Chapter 4

"I need a room, love," a feminine, commanding voice ordered as Nooj stirred from his slumber. His eyes widen in recognition of the woman's voice. Leblanc.

"I only have one room left," O'aka warned with hesitation, "…and it only has one bed."

"Oh, that's alright. They are going to stay outside all night, searching for my Noojie, right boys?"

"…Yes, Boss," her two henchmen muttered miserably. Nooj sat up in bed as he heard two sets of footsteps walking past his room and stopped at the room next to him.

"Here you go miss," Wantz said over the sound of metal keys clanging against each other.

The door let out a creak as it opened before the woman sighed tiredly, "Thanks, love…"

Nooj immediately shot out of bed and limped over to his door in an instant. His wife was here and she had been searching for him this whole time. It made him feel worse as he realized that she was worrying over him when she should worry about her baby. He was about to rush out and knock down her door to confront and comfort her until he remembered why he had left her. He wouldn't be around forever to love and protect her because he was a Deathseeker. He couldn't happily live with her with all the regrets weighing him down. He can't go to her now, he needed to get out before she found him.

Nooj quietly gathered his things and grabbed his cane before heading out the door and knocked on Nadie's door. He soon found it unlocked and walked in to find her in a deep slumber while clutching a small stuffed chocobo tightly in her arms like a little child. He briefly wondered where she had gotten it since he didn't recall her carrying it around before, but then remembered that he wasn't paying much attention to her when they arrived to the Travel Agency. Deciding that getting away from here was more important, he lifted his cane and poked her in the side.

"…Hmm?" she groaned as she opened one green eye.

"We're leaving, let's go," he answered curtly.

"What? Why?" she whined as she slowly got up.

"…Just hurry and follow me." He didn't feel the need to explain to her that he was trying to avoid his wife.

She only blinked at him with bleary eyes before she stood up and stretched before she placed the stuffed toy into a black purse that was camouflaged against the skirt of her dress. Nadie followed him out without any protest as they slipped past O'aka and Wantz and out the door. It was freezing cold as the two headed towards the Calm Lands.

"Um…Nooj?" she called out through her chattering teeth.

"What is it?" he wondered as he briefly glanced back at her.

"Are the bandits coming back?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"I was just wondering why we were leaving so early. I can see why if it's because bandits are coming back and we are trying to put some distance between us."

She was a rather wise and understanding girl at times. Nooj often wondered exactly how old she was because sometimes she'd act like she was seven years old instead of the suddenly mature adult that was following him. Maybe she had a split personality.

"Ey Nooj! I found Nooj!" a voice called from behind. They both turned to find Ormi waddling towards them.

"Hey, I know him," Nadie said with a small smile on her face before waving back at him. Nooj grabbed her wrist and tried to move faster away from the large man. The young girl only glanced back at him with a confused face as she matched his quickened strides.

"There you are! Do you have any idea how worried the Boss is about you?" another man said as he blocked them off from their escape. Logos crossed his arms and sent a rather annoyed glare towards Nooj.

"Ormi and Logos are here?" she asked as she glanced up at Nooj when Ormi caught up to them.

"Do…we know you?" the taller man inquired as he squinted his eyes at her.

"Nah…you guys probably wouldn't remember me. Hey, if they're here, then that must mean Leblanc is here too. Where is she?"

"Oh, she's back at the Travel Agency in Macalania," Ormi responded before Logos lightly hit him on the head while mumbling that he didn't need to answer her. Nadie's eyes widened slightly as she figured out why Nooj had decided to leave and then faced him.

"Nooj? Why?" she whispered before he sighed in frustration.

"I'm trying to help this girl with her problem. Move aside," he ordered as he took a step closer to the two men.

"Not until you go see her," Logos persisted, "Leblanc needs you and it would make her feel better if she knew you were okay."

"Sorry, I can't do that. Please forgive me for what I'm about to do," Nooj muttered, earning perplexed expressions on the goons as they glanced at each other. Soon they found either Nooj's fist or cane knocking them down into the frozen ground before they fell unconscious.

He turned to find Nadie staring at him with a shocked expression. One hand flew up to cover her mouth as her gaze slowly traveled down to the sleeping men. They won't be out for long, so they didn't have much time. Nooj seized her wrist and dragged her stunned form along with him to the Calm Lands. They made it all the way to the Clam Lands when the girl found the strength to yank her wrist out of hid grasp.

"Nooj? Why?" she repeated with tears of frustration, "Your wife is worried about you! Why are you running away?"

"I made a mistake, I shouldn't have married her," he said bitterly. Nadie turned her head away as more tears fell. She looked betrayed.

"But don't you love her?"

"Of course I love her! That's why I'm leaving, to make it less painful for her when I die."

"So you're still a Deathseeker? You're the reason why I started this journey! When you married Leblanc, I thought you changed…" her voice cracked as she bit back her sobbing.

Nooj let out a sigh. This girl was obviously some child who looked up to him a little bit too much. He had a lot of admirers over his life, but Nadie was the first to pretend to be a Deathseeker.

"I'm not the best role model, that was your first mistake," he muttered coldly, "I have lived a life full of regrets, I have a legitimate reason to seek an end to my miserable life, but you…you're only a little girl who has a whole life ahead of you. Drop your act and go home before you worry your father to death."

"You think this is an act? I have lived a life of regrets too, albeit a short life. This crest makes me murder anyone who discriminates the Al Bhed," she explained as she pulled off her glove and revealed a reddish brown crest in the palm of her hand with the words 'dra lnacd uv taydr', "Surely you have heard of the burned corpses found on the Mi'ihen Highroad, Djose, and the Moonflow. They were…my victims."

He had heard of those murders done by what the witnesses called the 'lamenting monster' because the murderer was crying as she took their lives. He found it hard to believe that Nadie was the one who committed those crimes, but the witnesses had described a 'little girl with strange markings in the palm of her right hand.'

"…So you have lived a life of regrets as well," he eventually agreed. It was more a statement then a question, but Nadie nodded solemnly before she put her glove back on and plopped down on the ground.

"But now that I know that moving on is hopeless, I might as well go find a hungry fiend." She then hiccupped as a few quiet sobs escaped her. Nooj felt guilt welling up in his soul. He knew better than to believe her childish ideas, but he had no right to discourage her from trying. After all, she was only a young girl, a part of Spira's future, her life shouldn't be cut short so soon.


The doctor had been examining Yuna for what seemed like hours. The only other people in there with her were Lulu, Wakka, and their baby. Everyone else was forced to wait in the hallway outside of the cabin area. At first everyone was anxious and quiet until Gippal thought of a word game to keep everyone occupied. Currently, Rikku was playing along as Brother glared at Gippal and the rest ignored them.

"Light," he mumbled in boredom.

"Bulb!" Rikku shouted excitedly. The game was enough to cheer her up and to make even Baralai annoyed. Paine sighed as she felt a headache forming and briefly wished she was in there with Lulu and Wakka.

"Blitz."

"Ball!"

"Dull."

"Uh…" that made her pause.

"…I win," Gippal smirked as he ruffled the fuming Al Bhed girl's hair.

"Dr. P, wanna play?" he asked across the hallway. He already played and won against Buddy and Baralai. He was running out of victims and Shinra was no where to be found.

"No," she replied immediately.

"Aw, come on," he whined, "I'll let you go first…"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine…Stupid."

"Idiot."

Paine crossed her arms and glared at some random object, making it look like she wasn't paying attention, "Dark."

"Light."

"Up."

"Down."

"Yours."

"…Huh?"

"Up yours," Paine repeated, leaving him speechless.

"What? Nothing to say to that?" Rikku taunted as everyone else chuckled.

"Looks like Paine won," Baralai commented before he crossed his arms and tried to mimic Paine's persona, "Though I'm sure she didn't think of it as a great victory."

It was enough to get her to crack a smile before she turned away from them. Despite the now lighter mood in the hallway, Tidus was still sitting alone near a corner, sighing ever now and then. There was nothing in the world that would cheer her up until he knew if Yuna was going to be okay. How could anyone laugh when the woman who brought the Eternal Calm was lying in bed, possibly dieing from some deadly disease. It wasn't normal for someone to get sick and pass out suddenly when they were perfectly fine only moments before.

Suddenly, the door hissed open and the doctor (who happened to be a Hypello) quietly walked out, politely bowed to everyone, and then left. Once the doctor was gone, Lulu appeared at the door with Vidina as Wakka followed with a grim and angry expression.

Unable to contain her curiosity and worry, Rikku quickly ran up to them and asked, "How is she?"

"…She will live, but it would be a good idea to take her out of the search party," Lulu replied softly.

"It's probably for the best," Paine agreed as Wakka grunted and slammed his fist into his palm.

"Damn it! Yuna shouldn't be having this, she's too young!"

"Calm down Wakka, there is nothing we can do," his wife reprimanded, careful not to awaken the slumbering baby.

"Yeah, I know," he muttered before he turned an angry gaze towards Tidus, "You better take good care of her now because this is your fault!"

"Me? What did I do?" he wondered frantically, "She's the one who passed out suddenly! I didn't know what to do!"

"Enough!" Lulu yelled now that Vidina was awake.

"Uh, so what is wrong with her?" Gippal inquired as the fight broke away. The black mage could only let out a tired smile.

"It's nothing to worry about. She just needs rest for now."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question…" he mumbled before someone cleared their throat. Everyone turned to find Buddy at the elevator.

"I found Leblanc's goons near the airship. They told me that they spotted Nooj with a girl fitting Nadie's description. They said that they were heading towards the Calm Lands."

"So Nadie is with Nooj?" Rikku inquired wide eyed.

"That makes things easier for us," Paine muttered dryly.

"It also gets more complicated," Buddy continued, regaining their attention, "Ormi and Logos were knocked out by Nooj and when they came to, they went back to Macalania to report to Leblanc, but she was gone."

"Gone?" Baralai said in a confused tone.

"Gone," Buddy confirmed, "They said it was like she vanished into thin air, even O'aka didn't see her leave."

"Weird," Rikku relied.

"Well as much as I dislike the idea of a pregnant woman recklessly running around, Nadie is top priority so we need to get to the Calm Lands and…" Gippal stopped when he heard Brother growling behind him, "Oh, I'm sorry, what do you think leader?"

If Brother really did have a crush on Nadie then he knew that Brother would agree with him.

"We are going to the Calm Lands to get Nadie! Move out!"

Good idea, let's go!" Rikku cheered before everyone headed towards the elevator

"Tidus," Lulu called out, making him and the others freeze, "You should stay here. Yuna needs you now more than ever."

Still confused at the grim tone in her voice after she assured constantly that everything was fine, he responded with, "…You're right. I'll stay behind."

Paine glanced back at Lulu, Wakka, and Tidus before the doors closed. She had her suspicions about Yuna's health, but didn't voice them aloud or else it would cause a ruckus. Yuna will tell them what's wrong when she is ready to. There was no need to start rumors.


He was called 'Nooj the Undying' after he was the sole survivor of a mission to eliminate a mass number of fiends that had accumulated near Mi'ihen Highroad. That mission was how he became what he was today. He used to be happy back then in the Crusaders with his friends and team members. The team consisted of a lively, outgoing young man with dark skin, hazel eyes, and red hair who went by the name of Beccere, the soft-spoken, kind, and friendly man with black hair and dark blue eyes, known as Xakkran, a pale skinned man with dark brown hair and hazel-green eyes named Malikare, and of course, Nooj himself. Nooj used to be young and rash, but he followed orders well and quickly became famous in the ranks through his great fighting abilities. He never considered himself to be a good leader and didn't care to start as everyone agreed that Malikare should be the team leader. He was very charismatic, had wise decisions, and was the oldest of the four.

When the maesters of Yevon assigned the fateful mission to the Crusaders, Nooj was sent on another mission, by Malikare, to deliver a message to his brother, O'aka, and to his sister, Kurina. Because of this, he was unaware of the battle and ended up arriving too late to save his team members. If he was there an hour sooner, then he would have been able to help them. The maesters didn't bother to send a Summoner for the casualties so before Nooj could lay their bodies to rest, he was forced to fight them when they turned into fiends. When he returned to Bevelle, he was declared a hero and was given rewards. He had long since lost his parents to Sin and the only thing that made him happy were his friends from the Crusaders and now that they were gone, he had no reason to live.

Sure, when he joined the Crimson Squad, he made friends with his new team mates and was a little happier, though he never wanted to admit it. Gippal reminded him of Beccere while both Paine and Baralai had similar traits to Xakkran. This time he was the team leader and he used the same tactics that Malikare used, but made sure to put himself into danger so he could die nobly in battle, but his new team kept interfering. Soon after training, he was caught up in a conspiracy that ended up making him get possessed by a 1000 year old ghost who wanted the world to die. He was forced to betray his team and lose their trust, bringing even more regrets.

He bore so many regrets that he couldn't even look at his wife without feeling guilty. That was why he left her. He couldn't make her happy when he was too focused on his own regrets. Leblanc didn't deserve a husband like that, she deserved better than him. He didn't know much else to do except seek an end to all the pain, but even now there seemed to be someone holding him back; a young Deathseeker who was currently crying before him. Nadie was living by the small chance of overcoming her grief, but now he had easily shot down her hopes and dreams, leaving her to believe that it was truly the end. Nooj had started the Youth League so that the youth of Spira would have a future by learning from it's past and give the downtrodden hope. He couldn't just leave the girl in the state she was in, it would demoralize all he had started with the group.

"Look," he eventually said after a long period of silence, "It maybe too late for me, but you might still be able to accomplish your goal."

"…How?" Nadie asked in a bitter tone. He half expected her to be overjoyed with the news instead of her look of distrust.

"Do you know a man named Baralai?"

"The Praetor of New Yevon? Yeah," she replied while wiping a tear away with the back of her hand.

"He suffered the same fate I did. He was possessed by the same ghost and relived all the pain and suffering the ghost live through as well as take a few lives unwillingly. But for some reason, when he was freed of that curse, he didn't react like we did, instead he continued living."

"So you're saying that he has something that keeps him going?"

He wasn't sure of the answer himself, but it did sound probable, "Most likely, all you have to do is go out there and find out what."

She sniffled before she stood up and dusted off her dress, "A thought just occurred to me after you said that. What do you, me, and the Praetor have in common?"

He only blinked in response. The answer couldn't be Deathseeker because Baralai wasn't one, "…We all have regrets?"

"The whole world has regrets," she replied with a short chuckle, "But why do we have regrets? It's because we all carry the guilt of murdering the innocent. We don't deserve to live or be happy as long as we know that some people won't have the chance to live because of us."

"Well…yes that's true, but what of it? We can't bring them back to life nor could we ever ask for their forgiveness-"

"That's just it, Noojie! If we could apologize and try to find a way to honor them, then maybe we can move on," she said excitedly.

"Don't call me that," he ordered sternly, "…I see what you are trying to say, but even if the Guado will let us in to the Farplane, the people we see are only images created by pyreflies. We can't talk to them and expect a response from them."

"But there is a place at the border of Mt. Gagazet and the Zanarkand Ruins where we could talk to the dead …At least I've heard rumors about it. I'm sure if we go there, the Ronso may know something of it. And maybe when it's all over, even you could be happy."

"I doubt it would be as easy as you're implying."

"Maybe, maybe not, but I do know that there is no one wiser than the dead. They would probably know how the Praetor moved on." There was a childish glint in her eyes, alerting Nooj that the 'seven year old' was back in control of her.

He let out a long sigh, "Fine, I will accompany you to Gagazet, but if nothing is there, then you must return home and let me be."

"Deal!" she shouted joyously with a big smile. Nadie then grabbed his arm and dragged him down the slope to the Calm Lands, "Let's go!"


"You let her get away?" a tall, tan man with a blonde wig yelled as his minions cowered in fear.

"We were attacked by the leader of the Youth League!" a bandit cried before he was hit with the wig. Underneath the man's wig was short locks of brown, almost black hair.

"Nooj the Undying? Why was he in the Thunder Plains?" he muttered to himself.

Another bandit with a mask covering his face approached and saluted, "Sir, the girl has not returned to the Moonflow, we think she is heading north instead."

"Then she may be in Bevelle or in the Calm Lands," the first bandit guessed while he smoothed out the synthetic hairs of the toupee and placed it upon a nearby desk.

"Good. Start searching and bring her to me when you find her. If you run into Nooj, don't kill him, a man like him doesn't deserve such a dishonorable death protecting Nadeshia…especially when she has that vile Al Bhed blood in her."

"Right away sir."

"Yes, sir!"

Soon the bandits ran off to do his bidding. The bandit leader then picked up the wig and placed it back on his head before looking into a mirror. He almost looked like an exact copy of the Al Bhed merchant, Rin. Suddenly the dark halls of the room were filled with evil laughter.


This chapter is dedicated to the word 'bulb'. Why? Even I don't know why. One of my friends told me to write a scene that involved the word and so I did it. On other news, I still couldn't find what relation Wantz is to O'aka and I couldn't find anything on O'aka's sister, but I kinda got the impression that she had already passed away when he mentioned her. Either way his sister is going to be in the story and Wantz is still his nephew. Well, I off to write more fics! C ya next chapter!