A/N: And so, I, Amethyst Bubble, dedicate this chapter to Aminec, for giving me that lovely idea while we were talking after Simcha Torah services. ::Gives Aminec a cookie:: I stole the recipe that you stole from Vaida, though, so you might not want to eat it. Give it to Amenic. Or Yunno, or one of your other muses. Gonna stop senselessly babbling now. Anyway, Aminec gave me a lovely idea that I'll be using later. ::Cackles::

Disclaimer: ::Raises an eyebrow::…I don't REALLY have to say it, do I? Don't you all know?…WHAT legal issues?!…Oh, fine, fine…AHEM, I don't own Fire Emblem. There, I said it. ::Walks off in a huff::

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Something Wicked

Chapter Eight

By Amethyst Bubble

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"What are you doing on the floor, girl?"

Ninian looked up to see the wrinkled face of the old fortune teller staring down at her. Slowly, she got to her feet, dusting off her long skirt half-heartedly. "I-" Before she could even get another word out, Hannah interrupted her.

"Legault won't tell that young man," The old fortune teller said gruffly. "Your words and his affections get in the way of what he thinks is the right thing to do."

"Is it?" Ninian said, her voice just the tiniest bit bitter, "Maybe Legault was right to want to tell him…" She didn't ask how Hannah knew. Hannah always knew these sorts of things. Whether it was because she was truly a gifted psychic or if it was because she was an eavesdropper, no one knew. Frankly, no one wanted to.

"He'll find out soon enough," Hannah said in that same short, gruff tone. The kind of tone that you just couldn't argue with. Not that it was wise to argue with Hannah at all; anyone who tried to quickly learned their place.

"What's going on?" A small voice asked and a green haired head appeared from behind the curtains that separated Hannah's room from Ninian's and the rest of the attic. A flute was clutched in his hand; he had been practicing when Hannah and Ninian's conversation had distracted him.

"It's…nothing, Nils," Ninian smiled at her younger brother, smoothing down his hair affectionately.

Nils frowned, "No, it's not nothing. I can see that it's not nothing." Just because he was the youngest fortune teller didn't mean that he was the worst. He was just as good as them. They should share their information with him, he was sure he could help.

"When you're older, boy," Hannah said, beginning to hobble back to her section of the attic. "We'll tell you things."

Nils crossed his arms over his chest, gazing from Hannah to Ninian with his red eyes. "Well, then why should I tell you about the weird vision I had?" His expression turned slightly melancholy at the mention of his vision. It was an important one but in no way a good one. He resisted the urge to shiver slightly.

"Vision?" Ninian stared down at her little brother in a curious manner. Nils had had visions before, but they had always been on minor things; nothing that he really needed to inform them on. The most serious one he'd ever had was about a thunderstorm that was coming.

"…You tell us and then we'll tell you, boy." Hannah said, not quite believing that Nils had actually had a vision. She wouldn't put it past him to make something like that up just to force Ninian and her to spill everything to him. He was a clever boy, after all. Hannah knew that all too well.

"…All right, but you have to promise to tell me afterwards!" After both women had nodded their agreement, Hannah somewhat reluctantly, Nils began.

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"Farina!"

The blue haired girl cursed quietly, quickly kicking something underneath her bed. Turning around, she saw her younger sister in the doorway, "Yes?" She asked, masking the annoyance in her voice. She didn't particularly want to scare Florina off. Of course, if she did, she could get back to her task right away.

"…Was I interrupting something?" Florina cocked her head to one side, staring at her older sister with curious eyes.

"Nothing that can't wait a little while…" Farina said with a sigh, sitting down on her bed and motioning for Florina to come in.

The orchid haired wind witch took a few steps into the room, hovering nervously, "Why…why were you so mad at Rath and Wil, Farina?" She asked timidly. She'd never seen her sister snap at anyone like that. While it was true that Wil had put everyone in danger, he hadn't done it intentionally. He'd lost control. Almost everyone did at some point. Farina had never yelled at any of them.

Farina paused, trying to find an explanation. "…Well, Wil's magic could have destroyed the house. As his teacher, Rath should have started him off with something, oh, I don't know…less dangerous?" She said venomously. It was true, the house could have been destroyed because of the earthquake alone, not to mention what would happen if the winds had gotten much stronger. But that was not the reason she had gotten so annoyed, though it was certainly part of it. She'd been on edge lately, and the earthquake certainly had not helped.

"W-well, that's true…" Florina admitted, the concern in her eyes dimming a tiny bit.

Farina shifted impatiently; she wanted to finish what she had been doing. And to do that, she needed Florina gone. "Why don't you go and practice your magic with Lyn?" She suggested, knowing her sister would not be against the idea. Florina was always eager to practice with Lyn.

Nodding, Florina moved towards the door, and then, abruptly stopped. Turning around, she crossed the room quickly and flung her arms around her sister's shoulders in a quick hug. Then she left.

Farina sat there for a few minutes, lost in her own thoughts, before returning to her previous task.

What was done was done, after all.

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"I'm sorry…" Wil said softly.

Rath threaded his hand through the locks of green hair that escaped his bandanna, too exhausted to even notice the uncharacteristically small amount of words Wil had used.

Both had collapsed on a sofa in the main room, too tired to even make it upstairs to their rooms. Wil was exhausted from the amount of magic he'd accidentally used. Rath's reason was similar; even being around that much power was exhausting.

"…It's okay…" Rath murmured. There was no permanent damage to the house and while they were both too tired to move, they would be all right in a few hours.

"But I didn't even realize I was doing it, Rath!" Wil looked at his teacher with worry-filled brown eyes, "And I couldn't even stop." He clenched one of his hands tightly, almost trembling.

"You did stop," Rath informed him with a sigh, "…The elements just didn't. You don't have enough control over them to make them stop…that's why they had to come out and put a stop to it…" He was too tired to list all four of the girls' names; Wil knew who he meant by 'they'.

"…I'm just…so sorry, Rath…I don't think I'll ever get a hang of this. I-I just don't know…" He faltered, chewing lightly on his lower lip in a nervous fashion.

Reaching over, Rath laid a hand on Wil's shoulder, "Wil…stop worrying. You'll learn…" 'Eventually,' He added silently to himself. No use saying that out loud and upsetting Wil. He wasn't good with upset people. Especially not when he was tired.

"Do you really think so?" Wil asked, a spark of hope in his voice and eyes. He gazed at Rath intently, waiting for his teacher to answer.

Rath gave him the tiniest of smiles, "…I do."

Wil smiled half-heartedly, "Well, I guess if you say so. Because you're my teacher and all, and I guess you know better then me, because I'm new at all of this magic stuff and you're not so…"

Rath nodded absentmindedly, not even bothering to really listen to Wil's words.

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"Okay, what was that?" Serra rounded on Canas as Erk shut the library door. Her gaze was a fierce one, as if she was trying to set the library on fire with a look alone. It was times like this when Erk was glad that her element was light and that she could not actually set anything on fire with just a glance. If she did ever master fire spells, though, it would be a disaster. Erk was sure of that.

"Hmm?" The older man did not look up from the book he was fervently flipping through.

Serra rolled her eyes, "Canas! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" She snapped, stamping one petite foot and placing her hands on her hips.

"Mmhmm…" Canas gave the tiniest of nods. "That's a fine idea, Serra."

"You're not listening to me!" She accused, her lavender eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she pursed her lips together, "Canas, I'm taking valuable time out of my busy, busy schedule to talk to you! The least you could do is get your nose out of that book and listen to me for a few minutes!"

"Yes, yes, very good…" The dark witch murmured as he flipped another page over.

Serra let out an aggravated little moan. Was it so hard to just listen to her? Honestly, where were Canas' manners? A lady was speaking to him, and he ignored her for some old pieces of paper. Hmph, people these days. They just didn't behave like a civilized species anymore.

Erk sighed; was he the only one who knew how to get things done around here? Walking up to Canas, he snatched the book out of the other's hands and quickly retreating to the other side of the library with it. He didn't like to act like this, but he either had to take action or watch Serra work herself up into a fit while Canas continued to read. He'd rather not have to see Serra in a rage, especially since he was the one who was probably going to have to deal with her. He shuddered at the thought.

Canas blinked as the book was pulled away from him. Turning, he fixed Erk with a rather surprised look, "Whatever did you do that for? I was looking for something rather important, you know." His surprised look quickly melted into a stern one. "Erk, I'd like it if you would return that book to me." He held out his hand, locking his eyes with Erk's in a silent order. He wanted his book back.

"You answer some questions and you'll get your book back." Erk stated calmly, shifting the heavy leather-bound volume in his arms, keeping a tight grip on it.

"Thank you, Erk!" Serra shot him a grin. "I knew you'd help little me out with this!"

He glared at her. The last thing he wanted to do was side with Serra. His fingers tightened around the book as he resisted the urge to bring it down on her pink head.

Canas sighed, "All right, all right." He placed one hand on his hip, "What can I help you with?" He asked in an almost impatient manner. He really did want his book back.

"Why did you do that to…what's his name? That new boy! It's rude to grab someone like that!" Serra scolded, waving a finger in Canas' direction.

Erk nodded, "You made him very nervous, you know." His hold on the book lessened slightly as he remembered the defensive, nervous aura that had surrounded the green haired male.

"Did I now? Well, I must apologize for that later…but my actions were necessary, you know." Canas informed the two younger witches with an air of importance.

"And exactly why were they necessary?" Leave it to Serra to get straight to the point, Erk thought as he watched the pink haired girl stare Canas down the best she could. It was a bit difficult to stare down someone who was that much taller then you, but somehow Serra still managed. She could be quite scary for someone who wasn't very tall or even frightening. Actually, it was surprising that anyone who had pink pigtails could be described as 'scary'.

Canas sighed, "I'm sorry…but it's really something you have to figure out for yourself. Or you could ask that boy…but somehow I don't think he'd be happy about being asked that kind of question." With a pointed glance at Erk, he asked, "May I have my book back now, Erk? Or must I try and take it back from you?" His eyes told Erk he was very serious about getting his book back. Sighing, the purple haired teen walked forward until he was in front of Canas and held out the book to him.

"Thank you," Canas took the book back, smiling. He hesitated a moment before he started for the library door.

"Wait, Canas!" Serra called as he placed his hand on the door knob, "Ask him what kind of question?" But it was too late. He had already left. Serra stamped her foot again, pouting. That was no fair! How could he just leave without telling her what was going on?

Erk sighed. He was a bit curious about what Canas had been talking about, but he knew that the older man probably would keep refusing to tell him. It was really no use pestering Canas when he'd already made up his mind about something. Besides, Erk figured it probably wasn't his business, so he shouldn't go sticking his nose into it.

"Erk?" Serra asked after a moment, turning her lavender eyes on him. There was something oddly contemplative in her voice. She had obviously calmed down a bit since Canas had left.

"…Yes?" He answered with an annoyed edge to his voice, knowing that she'd just keep bothering him if he didn't give her a reply right away.

"What was the title of that book?" She asked, flicking a few strands on bubble gum pink hair over her shoulder, blinking her violet eyes in a questioning manner.

Erk almost hit himself over the head. How could Serra have thought of that when he hadn't?

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"You know, we'll never get the boy back like this," Eubans said, absentmindedly flipping through the newspaper. He had an air about him that stated that he didn't really care whether they recaptured Heath or not, but Vaida knew that he was raging inside. He was the one who had started all this, after all. He obviously cared greatly, or else they would have never held Heath captive in the first place.

"Well, what will we do, then?" Vaida asked in as calm a tone as she could manage, "We can't very well go to the police, you know that as well as I do. We would be dooming ourselves." She crossed her arms over her chest, frowning. She was restless, growing more and more irritated by the second. It was just so frustrating to be sitting around, doing nothing at all. Eubans said he wanted to get Heath back, didn't he? Then why the hell weren't they doing anything?

Eubans glared at her, "Do you have a plan, Vaida?" He asked venomously. "You were the one in charge of taking care of the boy, after all." He straightened his newspaper, flipping a page over.

Vaida felt compelled to tell Eubans that he had a name, and it certainly wasn't 'the boy'. But she held her tongue. What was the use in saying anything as stupid as that? What was the use in even talking to Eubans at all? Nothing was getting done this way.

"No," She said shortly.

"Well," Eubans shook out his newspaper, turning a page. "I wouldn't be speaking then, Vaida."

Her blood boiled. How dare he, acting as if he were her superior. He was not. He was in no way her superior. He would be flattering himself to even call himself her equal. Turning on her heel, she stormed out of the room. Her hand gravitated above the door knob of her room. She hesitated to go in. Her hand falling to her side, she took a few quick steps to the left until she was in front of another door. Placing her hand on the door knob, she turned it and the door swung open. She stepped inside and closed the door quietly behind her.

This was, or had been, Heath's room. Vaida was not sure why she had felt so compelled to come in here. She just had. She would have said something had called to her, if she hadn't been so sure that nothing of that sort could ever happen. It was pure nonsense.

She looked around. Walls adorned only with a clock, a desk in the corner, a chest of drawers in another, and a bed that was unmade. A window by the bed, overlooking a ledge. Often, she had thought about sealing that window shut, just in case Heath was pushed far enough over the edge. She doubted he would be stupid enough to jump, but you never did know.

Over all, there was nothing special at all in the room.

"It's a shame," Eubans said and Vaida spun around to find him leaning against the door way. She had not heard him enter. "It really is a shame," He repeated with an air of someone who just didn't give a damn.

Vaida wished he would disappear. There was something about his attitude that particularly annoyed her today. If she could just have some time to herself, maybe she would be able to get a little a little peace.

As he surveyed the room the same way she had, she found herself wondering why he had never irritated her this much before. He'd never spoken to her in such a rude way before, either, if she remembered correctly.

Then the reason struck her all of a sudden: Heath. Heath had always been the target of Eubans' rage before. Now that he was gone, there was no one to take it out on but Vaida.

She growled low in her throat as Eubans turned, swiftly disappearing from sight. That smug bastard…

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that one of Heath's drawers was open. Out of habit more then anything, she moved to close it, and then abruptly paused. Every item of clothing in the drawer, few though they were, was pushed away from the center, as if they had been thrown aside while someone, Heath without a doubt, had been looking for something.

Vaida huffed, placing her hand on the drawer to close it when, once again, something caught her eye. A scrap of white paper. She slowly reached into the drawer and pulled it out from under the clothes that covered half of it. When she had freed it and held it up to the light, she found that it really was merely a scrap of paper. What could Heath have been keeping this for?

She was about to crumple it into a ball and discard it when she noticed that it was folded in half. Frowning, she unfolded it to find words scrawled across it in Heath's hand writing.

Three words, or rather, three names. She paled considerably when she saw just who those names belonged to.

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Despite his calm, uncaring demeanor around Vaida, Eubans was secretly raging inside. Heath was gone. Everything was ruined. They couldn't even call the authorities. It would only cause too much trouble.

How had the boy even gotten so involved with someone? He had been right under their noses the entire time. There shouldn't have been any way for him to get close to someone. Complete and total isolation. That is what he had wanted. If the boy was completely alone, it would make things so much easier.

"Well, he obviously knew the man." Vaida's words repeated over and over in his mind.

But how? How was it even possible? Surely, they would know if he had contact with other people besides himself and Vaida.

It shouldn't have been possible for Heath to even remember the man. Not with the precautions they had taken…He slammed his fist into the wall. He just didn't know how this had all happened!

Now, Heath was gone. He was who knows where with that smug bastard who had saved him. Eubans had to wonder…why had that man saved him? Did he have reasons or was he just some random do-gooder? He was a witch, he had to be, with the way he had gotten into the apartment, and then sealed the closet door shut like that…

So many questions plagued Eubans' mind. Why would someone want Heath? Unless that person knew what Heath was worth…but that wasn't very likely. No, it wasn't very likely at all.

The man had probably had different reasons entirely for rescuing their little captive.

Eubans swore lowly, glaring at nothing in particular. He had to get Heath back. It was of the utmost importance that he do so, and fast.

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"Going to let me go any time soon?" Heath asked in a half joking tone, mock-glaring up at Legault.

Legault raised one eyebrow, tightening his grip on Heath, "Wasn't planning on it." He replied with a smirk.

Heath gave him an exasperated look, but didn't seem all that unhappy. "Isn't your niece going to come looking for you eventually? She seemed pretty attached to you…" He said quietly, laying his head on Legault's shoulder, figuring he might as well make himself comfortable if he wasn't going to be set free from the lavender haired man's embrace any time soon.

"Nino?" Legault hummed softly, "I suppose she will, eventually, but I'll worry about that then. It's not like she'll be able to open the door, anyway." He glanced at the shadows that still enshrouded it. Raising an arm, keeping the other wrapped securely around Heath's waist, he began stroking the other's rather messy hair, paying special attention to that one white streak.

Heath closed his eyes, enjoying the attention that was being lavished upon him, "It's hard to believe…" He started in a quiet tone, "That yesterday, I was trapped back there."

"Don't think about it if you don't want to," Legault murmured just as quietly, working his fingers through a tangle he'd found in Heath's hair.

Heath shook his head, "No. It doesn't bother me, really." Even with his eyes closed, he could literally feel the look Legault was giving him, an expression clearly saying 'you're lying'. "No, really, it doesn't," He continued. "After all, I'm not there anymore." He smiled softly.

Legault raised an eyebrow, "You're acting strange today. Not your usual paranoid self," He mused, remembering how distrusting Heath had been when they'd first met. "How do you know I won't abuse you like they did?" His hand fell from Heath's hair to his arm, pushing the sleeve of his shirt up enough to run his fingers over the scars. He would have to find something to fix that up later. Heath shouldn't have to have scars like that.

"Because you won't," Heath replied, stiffening slightly as he felt Legault touch the scars on his arm. He batted Legault's hand away, tugging his sleeve back into place. He just wanted to forget those scars were even there.

"Yes, but how do you know that?" Legault persisted, moving his hand back up to Heath's hair. Obviously, Heath hadn't liked him touching those scars. He hoped that Heath would at least let spread some salve on that arm later, to help the scarred flesh heal.

Heath pulled away, retreating a few steps. "…I just do," He said stiffly, crossing his arms over his chest. He was frowning, and Legault could see that he was trying to hide a hurt expression, but he couldn't quite keep it from reaching his eyes.

He followed Heath, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry." He apologized quickly, "I've brought back some bad memories, haven't I?"

"It's fine," Heath said shortly, shrugging Legault's hand away. He turned his back to Legault to stare out the window on the other side of the room, admiring the view.

"It doesn't seem like it's fine," Legault muttered, but dropped the subject. Circling his arms around Heath's shoulders from behind, Legault said softly, "And you're right. I'd never harm you." Not on purpose, at least, he thought to himself grimly.

Heath nodded silently, continuing to simply stare out the window.

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"Will you leave my hair alone?" Guy asked, trying in vain to yank his braid out of Matthew's grasp.

Matthew grinned wickedly in response, fumbling for his keys with one hand while the other kept Guy's hair hostage, keeping the dark-haired boy on a short leash, quite literally. Unlocking the door, he pushed it open and walked in, Guy stumbling after him, mumbling curses under his breath. Honestly, why was Matthew so obsessed with his hair? It surely wasn't as nice as some other individual's...

They living room they walked into was not what they had been expecting. Rath was guiding Wil up the stairs, mumbling that this 'was not their place'. They disappeared up the stairs in mere moments. Hector stood by the table at the far wall, frowning in an unreadable way with the phone pressed against his ear. Eliwood stood next to him wearing a concerned expression, his posture and the way he clenched his hands tightly were practically screaming worry.

Serra was tugging on Hector's sleeve, asking over and over again what was going on. She stopped when he slapped his free hand over his mouth. After that, she fell still, knowing that this must be something of grave importance. Though she might not have acted like it, she knew there was a time and place to be silent, and this was almost certainly that time and that place.

With one last nod and a 'thank you', Hector placed the phone back down on the receiver. Turning, he caught sight of Matthew and frowned again.

Guy's braid hit his back with a thump as Matthew let go of it. The sandy haired man cocked his head to one side, staring at Hector with an unreadable expression in his amber eyes, "Hector…?"

Hector sighed, "Matthew, sit down." He gestured to the sofas that were scattered throughout the room.

Matthew stayed where he was, taking a step forward, "Hector, what's going on?" He asked, his voice now full of urgency.

This time it was Eliwood who spoke, "I'm afraid we have some...bad news..."

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Chapter Eight- End

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::Glance:: Yeah, you all saw that coming. Still, had to be done. For plot reasons later on, and …well, yeah. You get the point. Update was long in coming, I know, but it couldn't be avoided. If you've been reading my LiveJournal or have seen the announcement in my bio, you know why. If you don't...well, there was some trouble with my computer, but it seems to be fixed now, so hopefully it's all over with.

A bit of a short chapter, I know, but I had problems with this one. I'm really looking forward to writing chapter ten, and eight and nine are a little harder for me because I have to slowly bring us up to the events of ten. And I'm sure you all know what's going on in that last bit...::Sigh:: Ah, well, everyone knew this was coming eventually. I do have some stuff coming up that should hopefully be a surprise to most of you... (Aminec knows what's coming, I'm sure. After all, she's helped me with it. Once again, much thanks to her.)

Anyway, reviews are appreciated. Kicking me for the late update is allowed, even though the circumstances were out of my control.