Devil's Masks

by ariescelestial

AU Shadow Hearts timeline. Alice returns to Rouen, only to find tragedy once more...one man's whim has a drastic effect. [Covenant Spoilers]

9. Blue Castle: Covenant

Warning: I showed some parts of this to MikoNoNyte as I wrote this, and she suggested: you might not want to eat while reading the boss battle against Tindalos. I didn't think it was that bad, but better safe than sorry, right?

---

Keith made the trip to Bistritz much easier and safer by fighting alongside us, but, in the first battle, it became clear his hair either needed to be tied back or hacked off. Keith was not particularly fond of the hacking idea, and so he ended up sitting on a fallen log as I tied back his hair with my blue ribbon.

"There you go," I said as I tugged the ribbon into a knot.

"Thank you, Alice," he said. "But are you sure it is all right?"

"It's not like I need it," I said, and tossed my short hair to prove my point. It had started growing back out but only went slightly past my shoulders. I had let my bangs grow out too--there didn't seem a point in keeping my hair styled when it wasn't the right length, and it was easy enough to tuck the extra hair behind my ears.

As Keith stood I yawned. Zhuzhen, sitting against a tree, barely had his eyes open. He'd said we were only going to rest a few minutes but it seemed fatigue was getting the better of him.

"Maybe we should sleep for a while?" I suggested. "Keith, are you tired?"

"Not a bit. I can keep watch, if you need me to."

"I'd be grateful if you did," I replied, lying down on the ground. If it had been warmer my bolero would have done for a makeshift pillow, but as it was I needed its warmth and so I rested my head on my arms instead. Zhuzhen already had his eyes closed. Despite the daylight, once my eyes were shut sleep quickly overtook me.

There was little peace in my sleep. I could hear people arguing and a child sobbing. I wasn't sure if I was awake or dreaming, only aware when I jerked and sat up.

Keith turned his head to look at me, one hand resting idly on his sword. "Are you all right?"

"Fine...fine," I answered. Though it had been short, the rest had helped--a little bit.

With the sun shining down through the foliage, the forest seemed welcoming, not at all creepy as it had been last night. It seemed I had slept longer than I had first thought; the sun was starting to set. But then, looking around, I noticed that Blue Castle was already dark, and its stones had a reddish tint to them that was enhanced by the sunset.

"Keith?" His green eyes darted to me, showing that he was paying attention. "Why is it called Blue Castle?"

He regarded the castle for a minute. "It usually is that color," he said, "But only if there is little or no malice within its walls. I am afraid the demon's malice is causing it to appear like this."

Yuri's malice...if it was that great, we might not be able to reason with him. If he was too far gone, we would have to kill him. "Well, after we've figured out what's going on in Bistritz, Zhuzhen and I will help you take care of that."

"But that distresses you."

"Yes," I said hesitantly, "but we'll do what has to be done. I really hope we'll be able to help him, but...there's the possibility that we won't. There's only so much we can do." I lifted the silver cross from underneath my blouse and unclasped the chain. Maybe it would help to take this to Yuri, but for now the chill I felt whenever I thought of him was too disturbing. I couldn't let Anne's cross distract me from what needed to be done.

It was only a few minutes before Zhuzhen woke up, yawning and stretching. We continued on our way and made it back to Bistritz just after the sun had set.

"My, my, this is disturbing," Keith remarked as the mist of blood enveloped us. "And it seems they fear me now," he added as he looked back and saw the depiction of the sun on the eastern gate.

"Watch out. There are monsters in here," Zhuzhen told him. The reminder seemed necessary with Keith's lax attitude.

"Oh--we never got to ask Michelle about the mayor," I remembered suddenly.

Zhuzhen frowned. "Do you think it might be him?"

"Well, it certainly isn't Keith, and we're fairly certain it's not Yuri...Kevin is the only other person who seems suspicious."

Zhuzhen nodded and walked over to the general store. He knocked on the door and it swung open.

My throat clenched. Why had they left their door unlocked, especially now, with the red mist? "Michelle? Nina?" I called as we walked in.

"Hellooo!" Zhuzhen shouted, but no one answered. What had happened here? It didn't look like monsters had attacked, but then why was no one answering?

Nina burst into the room. Before I could say anything she had taken hold of my hand and clutched it tight. "Alice!"

"What happened?" I asked her.

"My mom! It's my mom, she's--"

She was speaking so quickly the words were nearly incomprehensible. I shook my head. "What happened to your mom? Calm down, now. Talk to me."

The girl nodded, her grip loosening a bit. "A little while ago, the mayor came. He was looking around but then he started asking Mom where you'd gone. He was being really nosy so she asked him to leave, but then he said..."

"What did he say?" Zhuzhen asked. Keith stood behind him in the corner, glancing at the different items in the shop.

"He said that Dad had been helping him...they were researching vampires, because he wanted the treasure in Blue Castle. And while they were doing the research, they found a way to summon monsters...that's why all the monsters have been attacking!"

"But your father was the one who hired us," I said, confused. Then I remembered. Terry's nervousness and the feeling I'd had that he was lying...he had felt guilty.

"Your father didn't intend for it to happen," Zhuzhen told her. "That's why he got us."

She nodded, and then looked down at the ground. "The mayor said...Dad wouldn't have died if he hadn't gone to get you guys. I think...I think the mayor summoned the monsters that...and mom, he--he was telling us to give him the gift that Dad's friend gave to us...he said it was gold dust. Dad asked me to keep it safe, so I told the mayor he couldn't have it, but then..." She bit her lip, her eyes bright with tears as she looked up at me. "He was going to hit me, but my mom stood between us and he took her. I have to give him the gold dust, or else he'll kill her too..."

"How horrible..." I didn't know what I could tell her, how to reassure her.

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Zhuzhen growled. "He's finally shown himself!"

Keith stepped up to my side. "Are you all right, Nina? That must have been terrifying."

She started at his voice. "Oh! You're--"

He placed his hands on her slim shoulders, halting her words. "I promise you I will rescue your mother, so try to keep a stiff upper lip, all right?" The girl quickly wiped the gathering tears away from her eyes and nodded. He nodded and stood upright. "What a fool this mayor is! There's no treasure hidden in the castle."

"We'd better find the mayor, then."

"Wait!" Nina ran over to the counter and lifted up both a letter and a small black pouch. As she brought the items to us I realized they were attached. "This is the gift Dad's friend gave us. But, it seems too heavy to be gold dust."

"Do you suppose it really does contain gold dust?" Zhuzhen wondered, hefting the bag in his hand. "Is it all right?" he asked Nina. She nodded, and he opened up the pouch. For a few seconds he stared into it, puzzled by the discovery. Then he laughed. "Well, I'll be."

I looked into the bag and was surprised to see seeds. I looked at the letter attached to it:

"Dear Terry. This is to wish you and your family happiness and wealth everlasting..."

No wonder the mayor had thought it was something valuable. I had to wonder what good wheat seeds were in a place with such barren soil as Bistritz.

Zhuzhen closed the bag and handed it back to Nina. "This belongs to you, Nina, and you can bet they'll be a lot more use to you than that rotten old mayor. Take good care of them."

She nodded and we walked out of the store. Once it had closed I heard the sound of locks being turned. At least then, Nina would be safe from monsters...except for the ones that looked human.

There were monsters still prowling about in Bistritz, but with Keith's assistance they were all quickly dispatched. He seemed to be right about vampires being tougher than humans, because he could withstand physical injuries without even flinching.

We reached the mayor's house. Instead of the front door we stood in front of the entrance to the small addition. I could sense two people in there, but everything was quiet...

"Are we ready?" Keith asked.

I bit into a mana leaf, quickly restoring the energy I had lost from healing him and Zhuzhen in our encounters. "Yes, we're ready."

Keith nodded and then rammed his shoulder into the wooden door. The force broke the lock, allowing the door to swing open freely.

Immediately I spotted Michelle. She lay unconscious on a makeshift bed. Her hair had fallen out of its bun and there was a dark bruise on the side of her face. Kevin stood over her, but the moment we had entered he had turned his eyes to us.

"Nina told us everything!" I told him. "We're here to take Michelle back."

His eyes were wide, but then he laughed. "So you actually came back. I figured you'd slunk out of town with your tails between your legs. If you're here instead of Nina with the gold dust, hurry up and hand it over!"

"Shut up!" Zhuzhen shouted. "What made you think it'd be some piffling gold dust, anyway? The only thing you're going to get from us is a hundred knocks on the head."

"Is that right? So you don't care what happens to Michelle here? Well, it'll be too late for regrets when she dies because of you!"

He was willing to kill her just to get rich. I was disgusted, seeing how corrupt he truly was; why hadn't we realized earlier that he was the one responsible for the evil in Bistritz?

"I won't tolerate anyone causing people injury on my land," Keith said in a low voice. "I'll kill you if you lay so much as a finger on that woman."

Kevin looked him over and snorted, apparently deciding from his mismatched appearance that he wasn't to be taken seriously. "A new addition to your party? Well, that means more food for my loyal servants. This is my village! You have no right to come here and tell me how I should be doing things!"

Keith smirked. "You don't know about me, do you? I'm your master, you know. I'll show you the true power of a vampire."

The mayor's eyes widened and he jerked back. "A vampire?"

Zhuzhen chuckled at the reaction. "That's right!" he jeered. "He's the guy you've been looking for."

Kevin shook his head. He seemed scared, but rather than giving Michelle back he had decided to stand his ground. "You can't trick me! Why are you all so eager to die?" he shouted. "I'll devour you with my new body!"

A...new body? My eyes widened as he moaned, his eyes rolling back in their sockets. He fell to his hands and knees and his body began to twist and grow. I gasped and Keith moved in front of me, unsheathing his sword.

"Alice, Zhuzhen, please stay behind me," he instructed.

"Right," I answered, fixated on Kevin's head. Though I wanted to, I could not make myself look away as muscle and bone split the flesh, leaving pieces of it to peel off and fall to the ground. His clothes ripped as he grew larger, revealing only muscle and bone. Even his eyes grew bigger, to the point that the right one proved too large for its socket and popped out, hanging against his face.

His new body was that of a gargantuan dog that was Zhuzhen's height. It snarled at us, saliva dripping from its mouth.

Keith raised his sword and, in an instant, vanished and reappeared at the monster's side. He swung, cutting at the muscles, his sword halting at the bone beneath. The dog growled, but when it lunged at the vampire he vanished, reappearing in front of me.

With a low growl, the dog opened its mouth and breathed out fire, turning its head each way to attack all of us. Though Zhuzhen was relatively unscathed, being farther away from the monster and a Fire element himself, both Keith and I were burned by the fire. I opened my book to heal Keith, but he shook his head. "I do not need it."

It seemed doubtful, as the sleeves of his burgundy suit had been burned by the fire--with the clothing being so ancient, I was a bit surprised it'd lasted this long--and there were burn marks on his arms, but he did not seem to be in that much pain, so I accepted his words and healed myself. I heard Zhuzhen's chant and about a dozen arms emerged from the ground, clawing at the beast. As the beast was thus distracted, Keith raised his sword and sheath, waving both in front of him as he hummed. My first thought was that he was in need of a pure leaf, but then I saw a design appearing in the air where his sword and sheath had swung. Once it was complete, he struck the earth with the point of his sword. The dog monster recoiled as lights emerged from its body, drifting in the air towards Keith. When they touched him, his burns vanished.

I opened my book and cast Blessed Light. The monster howled and then bounded at me, knocking aside Keith. Before I could get back it seized my arm in its mouth, making the Tome of the Sun drop to the ground. I screamed as its teeth sank in, easily cutting through jacket, skin and muscle. Its saliva dripped in the wound and my eyes widened in horror as coldness spread through my arm. On my hand I could see the skin blackening and dying.

Keith charged into the dog's side, striking muscle and causing bits of it to fall off the exposed rib cage. When the beast let go to snap at Keith I collapsed, cradling the dead arm. "Cure," I murmured, but the spell did little, scaring me even more. What if it couldn't be healed?

Red fabric rustled as Zhuzhen knelt next to me and took the dead arm into his hands. He recited a healing spell and I gasped when all of the nerves burned--but at least the feeling had returned to my arm, and the color was creeping back. I wanted to thank him, but when we heard a loud growl Zhuzhen swore and rose to fend the monster off with his staff. My book lay by one huge paw, and I reached out to grab it. I opened it, scrambling to turn the pages with tingling fingers, and finally found the correct page. "Blessed Light!" I shouted. The attack hit the beast's underside and it howled in pain, backing away from us only to have its energy sucked away by another of Keith's spells.

I looked over at the vampire. Though the spell healed him, the skin on his chest was still cut open from clawing...but no blood came from the wound. It startled me because I had been thinking of him as human, and this had just reminded me that he wasn't. Still, it seemed a painful injury and so I started a healing spell. The wound finally sealed as Keith attacked again. With Zhuzhen already in front of the monster, Keith came from the side, aiming for its neck. Muscle fell away, and with a low growl the monster turned towards Keith, which resulted in its dangling eyeball being cut off in a sudden stroke. The eyeball landed on another of the makeshift beds and rolled around, gazing at all.

Half-blinded, the beast was less able to keep up with the onslaught of blows from both Keith and Zhuzhen. As they kept him occupied I maneuvered around him so that I could kneel by Michelle. Her breathing was even and she didn't seem seriously injured, so I cast a spell to heal the bruises on her face and head. She aroused and her eyes widened at the sight she saw, but in a few words I reassured her that everything would be all right. My attention returned to the fight. Keith's sword had been merciless, exposing more of the creature's skeleton. I cast Blessed Light at its back. The spell knocked it forward, and then with a growl the beast started to turn towards me with its remaining eye glaring at me. Blinded on the other side, it did not notice Keith raising his sword and sheath once more. This time when he struck the earth, swarms of bats appeared and in the small room there was nothing to see but bats. For an instant I was frightened, but none of them attacked Michelle or me. Instead they dove at the monster, screeching as they picked away at his flesh, again and again until nothing remained but glistening white bone. With nothing to hold it together, the skeleton fell apart. Each bone turned black and melted, creating a huge black stain on the floor.

Keith smiled, satisfied, and sheathed his sword. At that moment, the door banged open and Nina ran in. "Mom!" she shouted, flinging herself into her mother's arms.

"Nina!" Michelle kissed her daughter's forehead and then hugged her tight.

I was surprised at first that Nina had come through the red mist, but when I looked out the open door, there was no mist at all. I smiled. Bistritz was finally safe, and we had been able to reunite Nina with her mother. "I'm so glad to see you two back together," I said.

"Thank you!" Nina said. She was beaming with joy.

"You're welcome," I answered.

"Why don't we go back to your house?" Keith suggested. "You have both had a very trying day."

Michelle nodded, and both she and her daughter stood. We strolled back to their house, not hurried by the threat of danger...without the fog, Bistritz seemed that it could be a pleasant, peaceful village. Many of the doors and windows were still boarded up, but I knew that soon enough people would realize there was no need for fear anymore.

When we had come back to the shop, Michelle turned to us. Though she must have been wearied from what had happened, she thanked us profusely, both for saving her and for ridding Bistritz of monsters.

"There's no need, lady," Zhuzhen said, stopping her. "We were just keeping our promise to your husband."

"Alice," Nina said. She held the black pouch and letter out to me. "I want you to have one of my treasures."

"Wow, thank you. You know what? I want you and your mom to keep this," I said, handing it back. After all, for them it was a gift from Terry's friend, and hopefully a happy reminder of Terry as well. That could be helpful to both of them.

"Yeah," Zhuzhen said. "The wheat seeds in the bag will grow, even in a cold place like this. The seeds have been cross-bred." I glanced at Zhuzhen, surprised; I'd never realized before he knew so much about crops. "They'll grow and bring happiness to this village."

Nina clutched the bag, looking at it in wonder. "Seeds of happiness..."

"Sow the seeds with your mother, all right?" Keith told her. "You let me know if anything scary happens again."

"I will."

"Goodbye, Michelle," I said.

We left the house, and then Zhuzhen turned to both Keith and me. "Well...it's time to see what Sasha's been up to."

I bit my lip. Though I was glad the trouble in Bistritz had concluded happily, I hadn't expected it to be resolved so swiftly. Now we would be seeing Yuri, and who knew what was going to happen?

We walked back towards Blue Castle as far as we could, and then stopped to camp for the night. It was a bit awkward sleeping in a tent with two men, and I volunteered to keep a watch for them. Keith initially protested, saying he didn't need the sleep, but when I insisted he shrugged and relented. As I left the tent I could hear him remarking, "My, she's willful," to Zhuzhen, and wondered what he would have thought of Margarete if she were with us.

Nothing eventful that night, and I must confess that we probably would have been in a great amount of trouble if something had. I kept being distracted by the dark castle looming over us on the hill...even when I didn't look at it, it felt as though something was moving within the castle, watching us. When I looked back over my shoulder, there was a movement up high in the darkness of the tower. Yuri. Though the silhouette had only been visible for a brief moment, it had been too small to be Dehuai's fallen god, and that knowledge brought a rush of relief. Then Yuri was in control of himself.

If that's true, though, why would he lock himself away?

A hand clapped on my shoulder and I jumped.

"Perhaps you should get some sleep," Zhuzhen said wryly. "I'll keep watch now."

"I'm sorry! I thought I saw..." and I trailed off, unsure if I should tell him, my fingers reaching up to touch a chain that was gone.

"When did you take Anne's cross off?"

Zhuzhen had managed to startle me twice now. Wearing the silver cross underneath my tops, I hadn't thought anyone else had seen it. "Ummm, I took it off earlier, before we got back to Bistritz." I wanted to ask him when he had noticed it, but if I asked that it would as if I had been trying to conceal it. Which...I suppose I had been, but not out of deceitfulness. "I want to apologize for my outburst earlier today...or was it yesterday...what time is it now?" I wondered, confused.

The Adept chuckled. "Past midnight, according to Keith's watch, but who knows how old that thing is." He frowned slightly. "There's no need to apologize. I was wrong to blame him for the monsters."

Then he wasn't upset with me. I sighed.

"But...we do need to talk about Sasha. What are we going to do when we find him? Especially if he's insane..."

"I don't think he is," I said hesitantly.

"Well, if that's the case, then we should find out why he's staying here of all places. But his behavior from Keith's account does seem abnormal."

"Mm." I nodded, not really sure what to say to that. If he was human again, how could he be insane from losing control to Dehuai's god? Or...had he gone insane from something else? "Then, if he is insane, maybe, maybe there's something we could do for him." Though if he had been mad for six months, it did not seem likely a pure root would bring him back to his senses.

"We may have to kill him, you know."

"I know. But, it would be better than just leaving him in pain."

Zhuzhen looked hard at me. "I meant, we might have to kill him whether he's insane or not."

"Why?" I demanded. "Why would we do that? If he's not threatening anyone--"

"He said he was going to return to Roger Bacon."

My heart clenched. "But he hasn't."

"We don't know that. If he is sane, why is he acting so strangely? Who knows, maybe vampires are essential to whatever Bacon's plotting."

"You aren't even giving him a chance!"

"Alice, lower your voice."

I glanced at the tent where Keith was sleeping, but if the vampire could sleep for two centuries I doubted an argument would rouse him. Still, I made an effort to moderate my voice. I didn't want to lose my temper. "You're judging him already, and we don't even know what he's thinking."

"Even though he's stated his intentions...you don't think he showed us enough of his character in China?"

"He hasn't been doing anything though." I shook my head. "You hate him for what happened in Shanghai, but it wasn't his fault."

The Adept whirled on me, his dark eyes blazing. "Not his fault? If he hadn't fused with that thing-"

"-Bacon still would have summoned it-"

"-and Sasha told him to!" he whispered harshly. "Why didn't he even try to convince Bacon not to do it? Bacon was hesitating!"

"He...he probably knew Roger Bacon wouldn't stop..." But at the same time, if he had cared about the people of Shanghai...shouldn't he have at least tried?

Zhuzhen had heard my doubt. "You know for yourself what kind of person he is. If he's helping Roger Bacon--"

"I know more than that," I insisted. I know who he was. "Isn't there something else we can do? I won't kill him, it's just wrong."

"Do you have any rational alternatives?"

He stressed the word 'rational'. Rational, logical--I knew I was thinking with my heart instead of with my mind, but was that necessarily wrong?

I shook my head. "I have an idea, though. I think you would be surprised if you just gave Sasha another chance to prove himself." I looked the Adept directly in the eyes. "And that's what I plan to give him."

I walked past him and into the tent. I lay down on the far side of Keith and stared at the flaps, my insides boiling with anger at Zhuzhen, and fear that he was right. It took me a long time to get to sleep.

---

The next day brought us back to Blue Castle. Keith broke the seal on the tower's entrance and we climbed up the huge set of stairs. We had to go carefully, because large bats would swoop down at us and to take a tumble down the stone steps would result in serious injury. Sometimes we even found ourselves cornered by the ghosts of knights that had been dead for centuries. If Keith recognized the armor one was wearing, after it was defeated he would regale us with a story about why the knight was haunting the tower and how he had died. It helped to fill the silence.

Zhuzhen had not spoken to me since last night, and honestly I did not know what to say to him. Whenever I looked over at him he seemed to be deep in thought, probably about Yuri. If our eyes met--well, I do not know how he reacted because I looked away first every time.

"What are those doors?" I asked Keith, startling him. Without realizing I had interrupted his monologue on the knight who had lost his soul.

"Cells," he answered. "None of them are in use however--besides the one the demon occupies, of course."

"He's not a demon," I said quietly.

"He isn't?" Zhuzhen muttered on the other side of Keith.

I rounded on him. The only time he had spoken to me, and it was to accuse Yuri again? "No, he isn't. You know very well he isn't, Zhuzhen, why do you have to say things like that?"

For the first time, when our eyes met we each held the gaze, glaring at each other. My fists were clenching.

"Er...Alice? Master Zhuzhen?" Keith had a puzzled smile as he looked down at us. "We're at the top."

There was a cool evening breeze as we sat for a few minutes, resting. There was another door, leading into no doubt another cell.

"So that's his," I murmured, and I searched in my belongings for the warm cross. After a moment's hesitation, I removed my father's cross and put on Anne's. Its warmth comforted me and for an instant I could feel the weight of a child in my arms. Surely if there was a way to reach out to Yuri, Anne's cross would help me find it.

Sitting across from me, Zhuzhen eyed the silver cross. "Alice, we need to talk."

"No, we do not." I did not want to talk to him. Not if he was only going to try to convince me that we needed to kill Yuri.

"Yes, we do. When Keith and his brother approached Sasha, he attacked them," he stated. He looked to the vampire for agreement and Keith nodded. "We need to be sure of what we're going to do if he attacks us."

"And what if he doesn't attack us?" I countered. "Are you still going to murder him?"

Despite my harsh words, Zhuzhen's response was calm and reasoned. "If he doesn't attack us...then we find out why he's here and what he's been doing. And we'll decide where to go from there. But if he attacks us, we need to stop him."

"Kill him?"

"If necessary."

Yuri wouldn't attack us. He knew us, knew we wouldn't hurt him. Well, I amended, still looking at Zhuzhen, one of us wouldn't.

"All right." We both stood.

"Then we are all ready?" Keith asked. "I must warn you, he can attack quite fiercely."

I winced at his words. "Yes, Keith, we're ready."

Keith pushed open the door and we walked inside.

The only source of light in the cell was a window set high. Yuri sat directly underneath it, awash in blue moonlight.

"Yuri!" I exclaimed, but Zhuzhen grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Wait. Something's wrong."

Any sharp response vanished from my mind when I realized Zhuzhen was right; something was definitely wrong. There was blood around Yuri's mouth, dried, easily explained by the skeletons of bats around him. Yuri's clothes were shreds, barely on him--his pants had numerous rips in them, while his shirt was only the pieces of fabric trapped by the heavy harness that had served as armor in Asia.

But much more disturbing were the low moans he made as he slept as if in pain, one hand reaching out. The moans stopped and his hand dropped, the needle striking against the stone floor. Why was he sleeping with his armor and weapons on?

I shook off Zhuzhen's hand, hearing Keith ask if this was indeed the person we knew, Zhuzhen replying it was. My hand rested on Yuri's shoulder and I shook him lightly, hoping not to scare him.

His eyes opened, and they were dark and void. He didn't seem to see me; in fact, his hand rose in a careless gesture and I jumped back to avoid the hand needle.

Yuri moaned again and his face contorted. With the dried blood caked on, his expression was gruesome.

"He has every appearance of a human, but it's as if he has lost his soul somewhere," Keith said quietly. "In his present state, he is nothing but a maleficent monster."

"Then..." Zhuzhen trailed off, but I knew what he meant. Yuri had lost his soul to the Seraphic Radiance. We would have to kill him.

Yuri stood, swaying slightly on his feet. "Yuri? Don't you remember me?" I asked in a small voice. He looked so vulnerable, but his behavior was alarming.

This time he seemed to notice me, and the empty eyes stared at me. "You...you've come to kill mom, haven't you...?"

My throat clenched. "What?" It had been a while since I'd practiced my Chinese, but the tone in his words was enough to scare me.

"You damned monsters..." His fists rose as he shouted at me, "You're here for mom, aren't you!"

"Stand back!" Keith shouted, but Yuri's fist was already swinging. His knuckles connected with my cheek and the sheer force of the punch knocked me to the ground. I put a hand to my cheek, but nearly forgot the pain when I saw Keith unsheathing his sword and charging forward.

"No," I gasped. Now that Keith had drawn his weapon, Yuri would be even more convinced we meant harm. But--he still had his soul. If he could remember his mother, he must still have his soul!

I clambered to my feet and turned around. Yuri had caught Keith's sword on the edge of his hand needle and kneed the vampire in the groin. For the first time I heard the nobleman utter an imprecation and he backed away. Yuri, however, was not about to let him go.

How could he be so powerful in this condition? But then, he was fighting out of fear...he thought we were the monsters that Wugui had made to kill him and his mother--he would use all of his strength to stop us. I turned the pages in the tome of the sun, focusing on the cure spell I knew we would need.

Yuri was keeping pace with Keith, blocking all of his swings and occasionally, when he could, attacking the vampire. By now however Keith was expecting this and shielded himself as best as he could with his free arm. Keith was not giving Yuri the chance to start his own offensive, and it soon fell into a pattern of Keith attacking, Yuri blocking and then trying to get his own shot in, and Keith blocking it. What concerned me though was that Keith seemed to be losing; with every attack he was backing up towards me.

Suddenly though, Keith swung powerfully, forcing Yuri back a step when he blocked it. As Yuri's fist rose up to punch, the vampire vanished--and reappeared behind him, his sword raised to stab the wide-eyed fighter in the back.

"Don't!" I screamed.

Keith halted, startled by my outburst, but Yuri moved quickly and stabbed the blond's sword arm with his hand needle. Keith hissed in pain and lashed out with his left arm, striking Yuri full in the face. I was surprised to see Yuri stagger back, even dropping the hand needle he had stabbed Keith with; his attacks had been so strong, but he couldn't withstand the same sort of force.

I cast the cure spell, focusing on Keith's arm. I didn't want the vampire to have to drink Yuri's blood, especially with how weak he already was. Yuri was regaining his breath, glancing uncertainly between Keith and the weapon he had dropped.

Keith surprised me by sheathing his sword. "Your name is Yuri, is it not?" His voice was even, despite Yuri injuring him just seconds ago. "There's no need to fight. If you calm down and put your weapon away, I'm sure we can settle this peacefully."

"I...I..." Yuri was still speaking in Chinese, his voice full of fear. I didn't understand; Yuri knew English, had spoken it fluently, but right now he was acting as though he didn't understand it.

"Yuri, what's wrong?" I asked, using Chinese. He turned towards me.

"The monsters--I thought you were--" He stopped and his brown eyes widened.

"Yuri?"

"You're wearing my mom's cross." My hand reached up and covered the small cross, not that it did any good; Yuri clearly did not remember that he'd given it to me. "Why are you wearing it? What did you do to my mom!" he shouted as he walked towards me. Then he stopped and cradled his head, nearly cutting himself with the weapon in his hand. "Mom...where's mom? No--no no no no, mom, don't--" and he shook his head more fiercely, tears running down his cheeks until he screamed and a white light surrounded him.

He's fusing, I realized, and then I heard Zhuzhen cast a fire spell. As a skeletal hand with long claws grasped at my neck, discolored arms erupted from the ground, clawing at the monster. I backed away, looking at the skull that was bare of skin. Even the flesh that did cover its bones was leathery and sagging. It was the same monster that had attacked Yuri in the Fengtian sewers, but then how was it that Yuri had it?

The fusion monster growled and spread its bat-like wings, covering the distance between him and Zhuzhen in a heartbeat. If he was insane, there was no way for him to control the fusion monster, and I grasped my tome tightly. He attacked Zhuzhen twice, striking with his claws, and then rose in the air, directing his feet towards Zhuzhen so that the hooves would batter the Adept as he came down. It was at that moment that I cast Blessed Light.

The spell threw the demon up to the wall, but it caught itself and sprang back with its wings spread wide, this time directed at me. I raised my book, my mind still racing to figure out what I should do when Keith stepped in front of me, his sword drawn again. An instant before the demon would have been upon him, he struck--slashing his sword across its chest. The demon's body spasmed, its wings drawing in, and momentum carried it past us until it crashed into the opposite side of the wall.

For a long moment, we just watched the creature, uncertain if it would rise again. There was something black oozing from the wound and it was completely still, but the rotting smell told us this was a demon of death; perhaps it simply did not need breath.

We had our answer when the creature's form disappeared into light, leaving Yuri on the ground, unconscious. His appearance was piteous; fighting one-on-one with Keith had earned him bruises, and the black substance on his chest was beginning to turn reddish as blood mixed with it. I walked over to him, my tome held out for a Cure spell, but when I knelt by his side Zhuzhen grabbed my shoulder.

"Leave him," he said simply. "He's lost his soul."

I stared at him and then shook my head, not even answering as I brought out a canteen, uncapping it so the water could cleanse his wound.

"Alice--"

"He hasn't lost his soul. You heard him, Zhuzhen, he remembers his mother."

"But nothing else."

There was a bruise forming on Yuri's head from the impact with the wall, and his breathing was unsteady. I placed my hands on his chest and closed my eyes to concentrate. Tears leaked down my face. "Cure," I said, but felt nothing, so I opened my eyes.

His wound was still bleeding heavily, and it seemed my spell had done nothing at all.

"Alice...I am not certain you can heal him," Keith said softly. "He seems to have become weaker since when my brother and I fought him. It's as if...he already had one foot in the grave."

"Shut up!" I yelled. I couldn't sort out who was upset--Anne or me, but most likely it was both of us, and tears blurred my vision as I cast another healing spell, then another.

"That's enough," Zhuzhen said. "There's nothing we can do for him."

Why wasn't my magic working? His chest was still bleeding, and my hands were becoming stained red. I cast the healing spell again and again to no avail, pressing down harder with my hands in a futile effort to stop the bleeding. When Zhuzhen touched my arm I shook him off, though I felt dizzy from casting the same spell repeatedly.

"God, please, let me heal him," I whispered. I tried to cast the spell once more, but instead everything turned black and I collapsed.

I awoke to a canvas of black over me. It was hard to call it a sky, because it had no moon, nor stars; it had nothing but darkness.

My head, surprisingly, felt fine. Usually casting too many spells resulted in a severe headache, but that wasn't the case. Then I remembered Yuri's wound.

"Yuri?" I called, rising to my feet. I wasn't in the castle tower anymore; instead there were graves all around. My hands clutched each other as I looked around nervously. "Keith? Zhuzhen? Where are you?"

There was nothing but a suffocating silence. Perhaps we were back in Bistritz. The thick fog here was not unlike the fog in the town. When I looked back though, I saw a tall gate and absolute darkness past it. No, this was someplace else entirely. I shook my head and stepped forward.

As I came closer to the graves, my heart clenched with the thought that I had been abandoned. Except--I knew that wasn't rational, Zhuzhen and Keith wouldn't leave me. No, this loneliness and despair wasn't my own. This was...

"Yuri?" I called. It seemed almost as if he were standing all around me, I knew this sadness, had seen it when he tried to kill himself.

One foot in the grave...the thought spurred me onwards. I glanced at the mounds of earth with graves on them, but they were small and it was readily apparent that Yuri was not on any of them.

A gate held my interest. It was like the one I had woken up by, but the night sky beyond the gate held hundreds of stars and a full moon. I gazed up at its luminescence for a moment before lowering my eyes; beneath it was a small hill with a tree, and a silhouette of a man digging. "Yuri!" He did not hear me. I pushed against the gate but it would not budge. Though I put my whole body into the effort, there was not even the slightest creak.

Laughter stopped me and I looked towards its source. Further in the graveyard, there was a temple. Pieces of stone had broken off of it and vines dangled down its sides, but it seemed as though it must have been a grand building once upon a time.

At the temple's steps were four posts, and above each a mask floated. I felt a twinge of fear when I first saw them, laughing, but then I realized that if they could laugh, they could speak, and I needed to find out how to get to Yuri so I could help him.

A yellow mask with a beak for a mouth tsked at my approach. "Well, well, what have we here? You're a beautiful little girl, hmmm?" Holes for eyes narrowed at me. His appearance might have been comical if not for the double-edged sword that protruded from the mask.

"Who'd have thought she'd come all this way to the mind's darkness?" a wooden mask gloated. There was a small carving of a staff beneath the flat line that opened and closed as he talked. "You wish to sacrifice your body, your heart, your very life over the lad?"

I scarcely heard the question, my mind still trying to absorb the information he'd given me. I was in the mind's darkness...no wonder I felt Yuri all around me...this was his mind.

"Who are you?" I asked. After all, if this was Yuri's mind, these must be some part of him...the more I knew, the better prepared I would be to deal with him.

This time a green mask, shaped like a lion's head but with horns--perhaps a chimera--laughed and responded. "Are you not frightened by us? My, you're brave for a little girl! We are the unconscious inside the boy. People call us Fear, Envy, Anger, and Hate!"

The last mask, a blue fish with a grail set atop its head chuckled. Just what were these masks finding so amusing? "The boy's soul you're searching for is seeking death, and preparing for it."

I started. Yuri may have lost his sanity, true, and he had been very weak in the tower. But he had been eating and he fought us in self-defense. I hadn't thought he was suicidal. "Seeking...death?" I asked, hoping the mask was wrong.

The first mask tsked at me again. "Yes, retreating to the memories of his childhood. He earnestly seeks the escape of death – a place with no suffering, where no one can hurt him."

He's afraid of being hurt? He's so strong with his fusion...

The wooden mask guffawed. "So cute…" he said derisively. "Those who come here can find peace. One can join the consciousnesses of their dead mother or father. No need to continue life's hard struggles.

"The lad is mistaken. Running away isn't a bad thing. After all, each person cares about themselves the most."

I bit my lip at this thinking. Certainly death was a reunion with our loved ones...but only if we had lived a good life, and died without regrets. That Yuri would want to kill himself showed in itself that he would never gain peace in death.

"What's the matter?" the chimera roared at me. "Your expression… are you upset?"

"I won't let Yuri die," I told him, and the masks exploded with laughter.

"What a silly thing to say," one mask said after it finally calmed down. "Would you drag a poor soul who's finally about to find tranquility back to the burdens of life?"

"My, you're an interesting girl!" the mask with the sword exclaimed. "May I ask? To this soul who was unable to obtain his father's protection or his mother's affection… What exactly do you have to offer?"

I thought about it...but really, what could I give Yuri? Was there anything that he would want of me, unless it was to drag me off to Roger Bacon? And, I was hoping to avoid that outcome... "I...I don't know," I murmured, feeling small when I heard their snickers.

"The freedom of death – a resting place for a soul. Are you saying there is something more this lad desires?"

"I don't know what I have to offer Yuri. I just know--it's better than this! It's better than a lie. If he really wants to find peace, well...I don't know that I can give him that, but I'll do my utmost to help him find it."

"And what do you want of the lad, in exchange for your help?"

The only thing I wanted was safety from Roger Bacon, and I already knew that no one, not even Yuri, could give me that. So it was truthfully that I said: "I don't want anything from him. It's enough if I can help him."

The fish with the cup on its head laughed once more. "You make me laugh," he said, rather stupidly. "Unconditional devotion… No such virtue exists." Then he paused, his mouth gaping when it opened like the fish out of water he was. My lips twitched slightly with a smile; it was hard to see him as Fear or Envy or any of those negative emotions with that image in my mind. "…On second thought, there is one. The incomprehensible behavior humans call 'love'. But you don't… not this soul?"

My hand rose to my chest. "Oh..." I breathed softly. Zhuzhen had suggested the same thing. Did I love Yuri? I cared about him enough to want to help him. Compassion was a type of love. Which had the mask meant? But it was love and so I nodded.

The sword mask scoffed. "This gets more interesting by the minute! Such ridiculousness..." He paused and considered for a moment. "Very well. If you're that determined, we'll open the Gate of Self. The lad's soul is inside."

"The Gate of Self…" I repeated to myself, mulling over it. If that was the Gate of Self, what did it make this graveyard that was outside of it, not to mention these masks? They had said they were his subconscious, but it sounded as though they were not part of his 'self'. It was more important to find Yuri though, before he killed himself, and so I walked away instead of asking the masks.

"However!"

There was no hint of laughter in the sword mask's voice. That, more than anything, made me stop and look at him.

"Set one foot in there… and you must bear the lad's karma with him. Even so, will you go?" he asked. "The Four Mask's curse is binding. In return for opening the Gate, we will one day come for your soul."

They would come for my soul? I looked at these masks, wondering exactly what they were. Perhaps they belonged to the devil. But...I had asked God for a chance to help Yuri, and here I was.

The mask grew impatient with my silence, and asked again, "Are you willing to sacrifice your own soul to rescue him? If so, proceed…"

I nodded, certain they had told me all they would, and walked away. Behind me I could hear their mutterings and whispers. Could they really take my soul? I hesitated at the gate, seeing it wide open, as if it would take me in whole and trap me in the fires of hell. But...no, I was doing this to save Yuri; I needed to have faith, both in the Lord and in him.

A shudder came over me as I walked through, but I shook it off and ran up the grassy slope. A gnarled tree grew at the top of the hill. Beneath its crown, Yuri threw all his body into digging, clods of earth flying.

"Yuri, what are you digging?" I asked him before I realized the shape of the hole, long and narrow to lay a body in. "This is...a grave."

Of course. He wanted death, was seeking it, so why did it surprise me so much that he was anticipating it by digging himself a grave? Yuri continued digging, seeming as though he had never heard me.

"Stop!" I shouted at him. "Stop it, Yuri!"

He jerked in surprise and held the hoe in one hand as he wiped his brow with the other. Then he turned to me, and he was smiling more than I'd ever seen him smile before. "What is it, mommy?" I couldn't think of what to say to this and he laughed. "Aren't I a good boy? I've got to help dad any way I can!"

"This isn't a garden!" I said, seizing his arm. I was scared. He was so happy about killing himself. "You're digging your own grave, don't you see that?"

He shook his head, his smile growing. "Oh, c'mon, stop pulling my leg! I've got to seed the farm before winter comes. Now, move aside," he said, and shook off my hand. Taking up the hoe again, he struck the earth again and again, making the grave deeper.

"Yuri..." This time he did not acknowledge me. What could I do? Just like in Blue Castle, he was delusional. He would not listen to words, and anything more direct might prompt another attack.

That was when the fox-faced man appeared from behind the tree. He chuckled at Yuri but then noticed me. "Hey, you." I was surprised that I could understand him, when before he had spoken only Japanese. But then, if this was Yuri's mind and soul, perhaps language had no place here. "What are you doing here?"

"You..." Why was he in here, I wondered, and then looked at the man who was still digging. "You put Yuri under a spell, didn't you?" I demanded. He'd wanted to kill Yuri in Asia, had laughed at his weakness...he must be amused to see Yuri dying in this manner.

"Wow, wait a second here. He chose to dig his own grave." The fox mask smirked at me. "And what are you here for? Waiting to put flowers on it?"

"Of course not!" I said angrily. "I'm here to help him!"

"Help him?" he scoffed. "You want to help this piece of garbage? You don't know anything about him, do you?"

I returned the gaze of the mask's eye slits, confident. I had known Yuri in Asia, and I knew what his youth had been like. "And you do? I know...you're not his father. Who are you?"

"Huh. You think you know so much. But if you were really smart, you wouldn't be here." He crossed his arms over his chest, staring at me. "It's hopeless, girl. Give it up."

"Dad, how much do I have to do? Should I keep digging?" Yuri asked pleadingly. I turned to him, but the masked man only snorted.

"Deeper, idiot. Keep digging!"

Yuri flinched at the harsh words. I reached towards him, but without even looking at me he turned back and started digging again.

"See? He doesn't want to live," the man in the green army coat told me. "That's all I have to do. He doesn't protest. He wants to die, he's just scared. So I give him a little encouragement whenever he needs it."

I shook my head. "He doesn't need any encouragement. If you were really his father, you wouldn't do this to him."

"Maybe you're right. But then, you don't know all the horrible things he's done. I'm pretty disgusted with him. You see," he said, stepping closer to me, "I'm the embodiment of his weakness. His fear, his self-loathing…I know more about him than you ever could, girl."

I bit my lip. Yuri hated himself for the things he'd done…didn't that mean he was sorry for doing them? Then he still remembered what his parents had taught him about right and wrong. "It doesn't matter what he's done. He can still change."

The masked man threw his head back and laughed. "Change? He won't even try. He can't face himself. He can't fight the Seraphic Radiance. All he can do is curl up and hope to die quick enough!"

Yuri was still striking the earth with the hoe, steadily bringing himself closer to death. "Yuri," I called. "Yuri." He didn't respond at all, not even faltering in his swings. When I touched his shoulder he simply shook me off again. "Yuri!" My voice was strangled as my throat tightened. There was nothing that I could say to reach him.

"See?" the other man said gleefully. "Absolutely hopeless."

"Stop it!" I shouted at him. Tears were rising up in my eyes at the awful thought that he was right, that I'd come too late to help Yuri. "He is not hopeless, he can still change as long as he's alive! You might know everything he's done, but you don't know what he can do because you don't believe in him," and I halted as the tears streaked down my cheeks. I swallowed the lump in my throat before continuing. "You can't believe in anything. So what—what would you know?"

I wiped my face and then looked up at the masked man. His eyes were narrowed with fury, and his entire body was tensed. "You're crying for him? I hate that weepy crap!"

Before I could move, his fist struck me squarely in the cheek. It was the exact same place where Yuri had punched me before and I could not bite back a cry of pain as I fell.

I heard the hoe drop to the ground. Yuri knelt next to me and examined my bruised cheek, touching my face gently. He was aware of himself now, and I stared up at him, wondering. Then Yuri stood and walked up to his 'father', shoulders squared and hands balled into fists.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Stop it, Dad!" Yuri told him. And even though it hurt, I smiled a bit as I stood. Yuri was afraid of his father, but he could stand up to him if it was for Anne. All he needed was to find his courage…and he would be able to change. "Don't hit Mom!"

"Oh, shut up, idiot!" the other man exploded, punching him in the nose. Yuri fell to one knee, the blood running down his face.

"Yuri!"

"Keep digging!" the man in green ordered. Instead, Yuri lashed out, rising to deliver a powerful kick to the man's stomach. He swore as he got back up. "You're turning against me?" he demanded of Yuri.

"You… You're not my dad…" Yuri whispered, his fists trembling with anger.

The fox mask chuckled. "This is too funny! Let's do it, weakling!" he shouted, striking Yuri down again.

I knelt down at Yuri's side. This was it, I knew it. Either Yuri would change or he would die instead. "Yuri, don't be scared of him," I told him. "He's just a part of you. He's not Ben. Your father loved you, you should know that. Don't waste your time on regrets when you can still change things! You're not dead yet!"

Yuri's eyes widened. Wiping the blood away with his hand, he rose and approached his other half, who put up his fists and jumped back. "She's right, isn't she?" he said, and this time he sounded like the Sasha I had known in Asia, not a frightened boy. "I'm still alive, and I can change things...say, for starters, your face."

The other man folded his arms and the light of fusion washed over him. Yuri seemed to recognize this and snapped at me, "Alice, get out of the way!"

I backed away and Yuri did his own fusion, changing into the strange green-and-white-furred tiger with a scream. His other half had chosen the same being of death that had attacked me in Blue Castle's tower, and was already rising into the air for an attack. The claws on his feet raked Yuri's face and chest.

The tiger growled and, even as the winged demon pulled back, it leapt at the darkness class fusion. Both tumbled to the ground, falling into the half-made grave. I ran to the edge of it to see what was going on. I hastily pulled back when claws dug into the earth besides my feet. The monster began to lift itself out of the grave, unable to fly out because of the narrow space, only to screech in pain as Yuri rose and sank his claws into one of the demon's folded wings. The skull head turned towards the tiger, its mouth opening to breathe out black fumes. The tiger quickly backed away from the gas, though it was unable to escape in the small space of the grave. I was close enough that the poison made me feel weak for a moment before I healed myself. In the grave Yuri screamed, drawing strength from the earth surrounding him to restore his own energy. I managed to pry my hands from my ears after he was done. The leather-clothed skeleton had not cared for the noise at all and brought its claws to slash against the tiger's chest, reopening the first wound he had created.

Neither of them tried to climb out of the grave, knowing from the first attempt that it would leave them open to the attack of their other half. Instead they fought each other viciously in the pit. Yuri was aware of how vulnerable he was to the black demon's vile breath and for that reason persisted in his attacks, not giving the demon of death time to use its magic. He didn't even stop to heal himself when he was injured, and soon the dirt in the grave was splattered with blood from both fusion monsters. But it seemed as though Yuri was winning the fight, his tiger form being more suited to fighting in the cramped space than the demon, whose one wing hung uselessly, torn into ribbons.

The end came so quickly I didn't realize it until the tiger's lethal claws were sheathed in the chest of the demon. With a weak screech, it changed back into Yuri's other half. The mask slipped off of his face, revealing Yuri's eyes, and at the sight Yuri released his own fusion and stared at himself. When the mask hit the dirt it broke, and so did Yuri's other half, into many beams of light that slowly disappeared.

Yuri remained still until I kneeled at the edge of the grave. "Yuri?"

He looked at me and smiled, though there seemed something hesitant about the action. He attempted to climb out of the grave on his own, but he was badly injured and I had to help him climb out of the pit. Once he was out of it, the grave vanished and the moon was replaced by a sun low in the sky, creating a gorgeous sunset.

For a moment there was silence as we both looked around our new surroundings; though the hill and tree itself had not changed a bit, the sunset's light made an astounding contrast to the pale light of the moon. Then I heard Yuri sigh.

"Okay, I'll bite. What the hell are you doing here, Alice?"

Blood rushed to my face, probably turning it red enough to match the sunset. That was probably about the last thing I had expected him to say, especially since I had helped him. At the same time, it was a valid question, and one I didn't exactly know the answer to. "Well...I'm not really sure how I got in yo--in here," I said hesitantly. "I was trying to heal you, but--oh no."

"What? What's wrong?" he asked. Didn't he know the state of his own body?

"I was trying to heal you because you were bleeding, but it wasn't working! It was so bad, and I think--I think--if no one else healed you--"

You're going to die.

I burst awake, startling both Zhuzhen and Keith. After I had passed out one of them had pulled me away from Yuri, and just as I had feared, neither of them had given any attention to his wounds. Though I could see his chest rising and falling, he was only taking shallow breaths. I scrambled to his side, but then realized I could not heal him: my head was pounding fiercely, and if I tried another cure spell I might faint again. Instead I looked around for the bag of healing items, spotting it at Zhuzhen's side.

"He needs a Thera seed--"

"Alice, he's gone. He lost his soul--"

"Zhuzhen!" My voice was shrieking; I knew Zhuzhen didn't understand what had just taken place, but there was no time to explain it. "Give me the seed!" I ordered and thrust out my hand.

He hesitated only a second before reaching into the bag and drawing out the needed item, placing it in my outstretched hand. I turned back to Yuri and propped his head up, pushing the small seed past his open lips. It only took a little coaxing to make him swallow it. I turned to Zhuzhen and Keith.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Not very long," Zhuzhen answered. "Only a few minutes." Then he squinted, looking not at me, but past me, to Yuri. "He's..."

I looked down at him and saw the wound in his chest closing. Though his face was still unnaturally pale, his breathing became deeper and more regular.

"Yes," I breathed. "Thank you, Lord."

Yuri's dark brown eyes slid open, trying to focus on me but failing. "Alice?" he mumbled.

"You're going to be fine," I reassured him. "You're going to live."

Zhuzhen knelt beside me and I glanced at him, uncertain what he was planning on doing. He cast Nourishing Potion on Yuri and the fighter coughed as the spell took effect. No doubt he felt the flames licking at his throat.

"Dammit, Zhuzhen," he said with a weak grin. A bit of the color was returning to his cheeks. "I told you I hate that stuff."

The Adept snorted. "Sasha's back, all right."

"Was I ever gone?"

"Well, after six months I was pretty sure you were dead."

Yuri's eyes widened and he tried to sit up. The first attempt failed, so then he propped himself up on his elbows. "Wait, you're saying it's been six months since the invocation?"

I nodded. "My, you have been out of it," Keith commented overhead.

The brunet still seemed dazed when Zhuzhen said, "You said you'd return to Roger Bacon quickly, and it's been six months. He's probably given you up for dead. So, what are you going to do?"

"I..." Yuri shook his head. "Christ, six months? Have I been here this whole time?"

"No, only this past month," Keith answered, and then looked at Zhuzhen. "Master Zhuzhen, perhaps we should give him some time to think about all this. It must be a lot to take in; I know it was when I realized I had been sleeping for two centuries."

Yuri peered up at the blond. "Two--wait, you're a vampire?"

Keith laughed. "An astute observation."

"Well, if Sasha's going to think about this, it would probably be safer for him to do his thinking downstairs. I know we haven't gotten rid of all the ghosts in this tower," Zhuzhen said, rising.

"Can you stand?" I asked. I offered Yuri my hand but he climbed to his feet on his own, though wavering. He took a step and his knees promptly buckled. I caught him, wincing as the harness he wore dug into my skin. He felt so light. He must have lost a lot of weight in the past months.

"This may be a problem," Keith mused. "Master Zhuzhen, Alice, I can easily carry him, but it will mean you'll have to deal with any monsters or spirits we encounter."

"That's no trouble," the Adept answered.

"Wait a second," Yuri argued, "I can--"

"Yuri, just let Keith carry you," I told him. The fighter looked at me, his eyes questioning, but he made only the mildest protest as Keith picked him up.

It was quiet as we walked down the tower staircase. Mostly because Zhuzhen and I had to keep an eye out, and Yuri was supposed to be thinking about what he was going to do, but I was surprised that even Keith was subdued. We had just encountered another ghost of a knight, and instead of Keith breaking the silence to tell us about the wretched soul, Yuri gave a loud swear.

"What is it?" Zhuzhen asked.

Yuri was rubbing his neck, looking quite aggrieved. "I don't have my talisman. What happened to it?"

"Ben's talisman?" Zhuzhen looked at me, but I shook my head. I knew what it looked like, but I hadn't seen it since I'd last seen Yuri. "It must have fallen off somewhere."

"Shit. I can't tell how much malice I have without it."

"I don't think you need to worry about that," I pointed out, "seeing as you defeated that man..."

"Fox Face."

I nodded. Fox Face seemed a reasonable name for the other half of Yuri that had hid behind a fox mask. "So you don't need to worry about that."

"Who is Fox Face?" Zhuzhen asked, curious.

"My imagination gone fucking crazy," Yuri answered flippantly. It seemed like he didn't want to tell Zhuzhen the details about Fox Face, so I remained silent, even though Zhuzhen's frequent glances at Yuri showed he was still puzzled.

Finally we were at the bottom of the stairs, and I turned towards Keith and the injured man he was carrying. "Yuri, may I--oh," I gasped, seeing that he was sleeping. It was no wonder; he had to be completely exhausted after everything he'd gone through.

"I'll put him in a room to rest," Keith said and walked away. Zhuzhen and I were left to look at each other.

"Ah," I murmured, but could think of nothing to say, and I ended up twining my hands behind my back. Seeing my behavior, Zhuzhen gave a soft chuckle.

"So, how did you heal him?"

I pursed my lips before answering, "I'm not entirely sure...somehow, I went in his soul...he was killing himself in there, that's why my magic wouldn't work on him." I wondered if I should tell him about the curse, but really, I needed to talk with Yuri first to find out more about it.

"And you stopped him?"

"No. That's...not exactly right. He stopped himself. I just helped him." I looked up at the Adept. "What do you think Yuri's going to do now?"

He shrugged, taking a seat on the cold stone floor. "Who knows?"

"You said Roger Bacon probably thinks he's dead."

"Well, yes. He hasn't found him after six months, and that's assuming he even looked in the first place. Bacon probably gave Sasha up for dead the moment he fused with Dehuai's god. He's very lucky to have survived."

"So, he's safe from Roger Bacon," I said, starting to see why Zhuzhen had told Sasha that. "He can live a normal life."

"If he wants to." With a weary sigh, Zhuzhen leaned back against the wall. "But who knows what he wants."

There was silence until Keith returned, now dressed in a new, or at least undamaged, suit and with his hair unbound. He gave me back my ribbon with a word of thanks. "He is resting well," the vampire announced.

"That's good," I responded, still troubled. What did Yuri want?

"Perhaps we should also get some sleep," Zhuzhen suggested. "But first...are you hungry, Alice?"

When I nodded, Keith said with a smile, "As thanks for your help with the 'demon', why don't I prepare a meal for the two of you?"

"Er..." I glanced at Zhuzhen, and it was obvious he had the same apprehension I did: Keith's idea of food would be either blood, or food that had stopped being fresh ages ago.

"I have been awake for a month." Keith's smile was growing larger. "That would be sufficient time to obtain fresh food, would it not?"

"It wasn't that...it was just...ah...thank you Keith," I said, my face red with embarrassment. With a laugh, he turned and led us to the dining room.

True to his word, the food he provided us with was fresh and wholesome, a pleasant surprise for us. It turned out the vampire had another surprise for us: during the meal he expressed an interest in traveling with us. Zhuzhen and I exchanged a glance over the food. We both knew that Keith's help would be great, but at the same time we couldn't possibly let him get involved in something so dangerous. Zhuzhen even warned him of the risks, but he replied that was the very reason he was interested, because life in the castle had become too tedious. We were still somewhat reluctant, but it was his own decision and so we said that he could join us.

Once I had finished eating, I asked Keith where Yuri was resting, so that I could take some food to him. The blond rose from the table and took me to a large bedroom. Though it was furnished with a bed and a table, there was a large square on the floor lined with dust and the entire room reeked of curry.

Yuri stirred as we entered. His harness as well as the rag of his shirt had been removed and placed on the table, while he had been covered with a blanket. I frowned, realizing that with his pants also torn he hardly had any clothes to make himself decent.

"Keith, if it's not too much trouble, do you have any clothes he could borrow?"

"Forget the clothes," Yuri mumbled sleepily. "Food! I'm starved."

Keith laughed and told me he would get some clothing for Yuri before leaving. I placed the food on the table, pushing the discarded clothing aside to make room.

"Are you feeling better now?" I asked.

"Little bit," he answered before tearing into the bread I'd brought. For a minute or so he simply attacked the food as I waited by his side. His eyes kept darting to me though and finally he asked with a mouth full of food, "What is it?"

"Do you know what you're going to do?"

He swallowed the food down. "Not really. I'm still trying to figure out just what's been happening."

"Oh." I nodded. "I guess it would be hard, coming back to the world after six months."

"Not so much that, though it did throw me for a loop," he admitted. "I still can't figure out..."

When he fell silent, I prompted him, "Can't figure out what?"

He looked at me with his dark eyes and asked, "Why did you save me? You know I'm working for Roger Bacon. And I told you in Shanghai that I plan to keep working with him."

Zhuzhen had told me as much when we had argued over Yuri's fate. Hearing Yuri himself say it made me look down. Was it really that foolish that I'd wanted to save him?

"But you haven't decided yet what you're going to do now, have you?"

"No," he answered after a moment's pause.

"I was hoping that, instead... maybe you would come with us."

Though I was staring at the bed sheets, I could not miss Yuri's head snapping towards me, and I knew he must have been staring at me with incredulity.

"You actually want me with you guys? After what I...are you nuts?" he exclaimed. "Wait a second..."

"What is it?" I asked. I was already red from his accusation of me being 'nuts', and the frown on his face told me that he certainly did not link any benevolent motivations with my actions.

"That crazy spy put you up to this, didn't she? Sure wasn't Zhuzhen's idea, he'd probably want me to rot with what happened in Shanghai." And at this Yuri's scowl grew fiercer. "Where is she, anyways?"

"She has no idea you're alive,soshe most certainly did not put me up to anything." I could not keep some irritation out of my voice; it irked me that he was assuming I didn't save him of my own volition. "Why would she?"

"Because she'd probably want to pry out any info I had, then shoot me," Yuri responded. "Though I guess Zhuzhen would be happy to do the same, then roast me. So it was his idea?"

"Yuri, shut up for a minute," I blurted, frustration getting the better of me. "I wanted to save you, and I want you to come with us. Margarete did not put me up to this, and Zhuzhen thought your soul was gone so you were past saving. It was my choice to save you."

This time, he was the one to look away first, and he raised an eyebrow. Puzzled, I looked in the same direction as him and observed on the wall a sepia portrait of an Indian man with a protruding gut. On either side of him there was a man with a plate of curry balanced on his head.

"Um. That...that's rather odd," I murmured, wondering who the last occupant of this room had been.

"Yeah."

After a moment or so I realized Yuri was perfectly content to stare at the picture rather than talk to me, and I sighed. "Listen. If you think I'm trying to manipulate you, Yuri, I'm not."

"Then why do you keep calling me that?"

I blinked a few times, trying to figure out what he meant. "Yuri? It's your name."

"My name is Sasha," he said pointedly.

The name Roger Bacon had chosen for him...for a second my breath was caught in my throat. Was this his way of telling me that he chose to follow Roger Bacon once more? Or maybe he was just uncomfortable being called by a name he hadn't heard in fifteen years.

Either way, it hurt a bit, knowing he didn't want me to call him by his real name. My hand reached up to Anne's cross as I asked, "Does it really make you uncomfortable?"

Though he had screamed at me for wearing Anne's cross in the castle tower, this time when he saw the cross it seemed to be for the first time. "You're still wearing it?"

"Do you want it back?" My hands were already moving up to the clasp, but Yuri caught my arm.

"No, it's fine. I was just surprised you still had it."

I felt relieved that I could continue to hold the memories within the cross, but at the same time I wondered what Yuri's refusal meant. Did he not want any reminders of his mother, or...? I tilted my head, looking at him curiously. Zhuzhen had said 'but who knows what he wants', and now I had to wonder. Did Yuri even know what he wanted? "I don't understand," I said finally. "You rescued me from Roger Bacon, you've saved my life more than once...you gave me your mother's cross, even though it's precious to you. But you haven't taken anything from me for those things. Why can you do that, and I can't?"

"That's not the same," Yuri retorted. "Koudelka was manipulating me when I rescued you."

"And when you saved my life?"

"You were helping me get revenge on Dehuai."

My smile was a bit dampened by how pat his answers were. Did he really believe those were the sole reasons behind his actions? "And when you gave me this cross?"

That could not be explained by manipulation or a desire for revenge, and Yuri knew it as well as I did. His eyes lowered to the blankets covering him as he said lamely, "It isn't important to me."

"That's a lie," I said simply.

"Dammit, Alice, it's different!" The color was rising in his cheeks, but he still would not look at me. It seemed rather than convincing him that I had saved him for good reason, I was just making him more upset. Maybe I should try a different approach.

"Why would you want to help Roger Bacon, Yu--Sasha?" After all, even though I'd have liked for him to travel with us, anything was better than the thought of having to fight against him.

"Because we have the same goal."

I nodded. "Yes, you said that in China," I said, recalling the day we had first arrived in Shanghai. "You said it was something that would make people happy. But if you're concerned about others' happiness, why would you also make them suffer, as Roger Bacon has?"

He sank back down into the pillows on the bed with a sigh. There was silence, but his eyes gazed at me so he wasn't ignoring me. Instead he was trying to form his response. "You...you wouldn't understand," he said at last. "You've been sheltered from it." I would've protested, but at that moment he closed his eyes and I wondered if it was his way of saying the conversation was over. "This world is too harsh."

"And what Roger Bacon is doing would somehow make that better?" I demanded. "I doubt that. How is the pain of those he's hurt going to make everyone happy?"

Yuri's eyes remained closed, but his lips twitched up in a smile. "But that's how it always is. For one person to gain, another person has to lose. And for everyone to gain..."

"That isn't true at all...what about Li Li?" I asked. "We helped her find peace and it didn't take anything from us."

"Dehuai's loss," Yuri murmured.

I sighed. If he was going to define it that way, there were no examples I could think of. But Dehuai had deserved the losses he had suffered. There was a difference between that and the anguish Bacon's victims had gone through. "How do you figure that Bacon can bring everyone happiness then? How is he going to change this world, if it's too harsh?"

Yuri pursed his lips, but said nothing, and my heart sank. He was afraid of giving me any information that might harm Roger Bacon because he was still siding with the warlock. "Yuri," I said desperately, grasping his hand. The action caused him to open his eyes once more. "Don't be too rash. Because if Roger Bacon fails...if he can't bring people happiness...you'll have the guilt of all the lives you helped him ruin. Just, please...think about it."

And for a second, guilt fleeted through his eyes. I thought I'd touched a nerve. Yuri smiled wanly and held my hand in his. "How about this then?" he said. "I promise I'll think about it more tonight. I'll tell you my answer in the morning."

Joy seized me. He was hesitating now, and I knew that surely if he thought about it, thought about the consequences Bacon's actions would bring, he would change his mind. We wouldn't have to fight him. Maybe...maybe he would even be helping us. "You promise?"

He lifted himself up with one arm, and with the other he tapped Anne's cross, resting on my chest. "I swear it. On my mother's cross," he said, more quietly. He still seemed guilty, which concerned me a bit. I hadn't meant to prick his conscience over those things which had already come and gone, but the things that he could change from now on.

I smiled. "But don't wear yourself out thinking, all right? You do need your rest. I'll let you eat now."

"Good night," he said.

"Good night."

I exited the room only to see Zhuzhen standing just outside the door so that Yuri could not see him. "So," he said in a low voice after I closed the door, "what's he going to do?"

"He hasn't decided yet. He said he'd make up his mind by the morning."

"Ah." Zhuzhen nodded. "I think I'd better watch him."

I bit my lip before shaking my head. "No. If he's thinking of coming with us...he won't do that if he thinks we don't trust him." The Adept still looked skeptical, so I went on, "Besides, he's still weak. I don't think he would try anything in his condition."

"I suppose that's true, but..."

"He promised he would think it over. Just give him a little time, please."

Zhuzhen sighed, adjusting his monocle as he thought. "All right, I will. You've been right about him so far. I just hope he makes a good decision."

I watched him walk away with a smile. Then I set off to find Keith, to ask him if there was a room I could rest in for the night.

I ended up in his sister's room, filled with knickknacks from all over Europe, and even some items from Africa. By now I was so weary that I didn't bother to change, I simply laid down in my clothes and shut my eyes. It occurred to me that I hadn't asked Yuri about the curse, though I had intended to. I shoved the thought away. He already had enough to think about; he didn't need more burdening his mind. It could wait until morning; after all, the masks had said 'some day', it wasn't like--

My breath stopped. Who was laughing?

My eyes tore open as I sat up. My hands rested on cobbled stones. Hovering over me, with their faces literally split into large grins, were the four masks.

"Are you that eager to collect the debt?" My voice shook. I wish it hadn't, but I was frightened by how suddenly they had appeared.

"Not yet, girl, not quite yet," the yellow sword mask told me in between his pesky tsks.

"Then what do you want?" I asked warily.

The dark green chimera roared with laughter. "Turn around, little girl! See for yourself!"

My insides clenched as I turned around, preparing myself to behold some horrible monstrosity. But no, it was only Yuri. He stood at the gate I had entered in before, facing its absolute darkness. Before I could call to him, he pushed it open and stepped through.

Another mask, either staff or grail, chuckled behind me. "Running away isn't a bad thing," it reminded me. "After all, each person cares about themselves the most."

Did they mean Yuri was--? I ran to the gates he had just left by and found myself standing in the bedroom he'd been sleeping in. The blankets had been flung to one side of the bed and Yuri was walking out of the door. It started to swing shut and I raised my arm to hold it open. I was so startled when my hand actually went through the door that I stumbled and fell through the wood, ending up on the floor of the hallway outside.

Immediately I got up and followed Yuri, who was edging each door slightly open, though some small portion of my mind was taking note that this was a dream then, not reality. The realization did nothing to diminish my concern as I followed him into another room and saw Zhuzhen sleeping.

"Yuri, what are you doing?" I asked him, hoping he'd respond. Instead he looked around the room, his eyes wide in the dim light. Without a sound he reached down and lifted up the pack lying by the bed, the bag with our healing items and food--and our money. This he hefted onto his shoulder before turning around and walking through me.

He is...no, this is just a dream, a nightmare from those masks, I told myself. Wake up, and look in his room; he'll still be there. He promised.

What did a promise mean to a thief, a criminal?

If I wake up, he'll be there. Wake up, wake up, but I didn't. All I could do was follow Yuri through the hallways.

Ah, the incomprehensible behavior humans call 'love'. But for this soul? He will never return any of your feelings...

I recognized the mask's voice this time and shook my head. "Would you stop assuming what my feelings are? Let me wake up now!"

The mask chuckled quietly. What assumption is there? You show by your actions you care about him...and he shows by his own that he cares for nothing. He will make a promise by his dead mother's cross, even in the same moment planning to break it. Why else would he have been guilty?

I stared at the figure walking ahead of me, stepping quickly and lightly without making a sound. I thought he'd felt guilty because of what I'd said, not because he was planning to sneak out. "Yuri," I called. "Yuri, stop!" Just wake up!

More laughter erupted. Never sparing me a glance, Yuri made his way out of the castle. When the howl of wolves filled the air, Yuri dropped the bag to the ground and fused into a large bird, his arms become huge wings. As he hovered in the air, he reached down with his talons to pick up the sack. Then he beat his wings powerfully, making the bare branches of the trees rustle as he rose into the air.

"Wake up..." I whispered.

How amusing. You can catch glimpses into the souls of other humans, yet you remain this naive? What a beautiful, innocent fool you are.

I whirled around and caught only a glimpse of alabaster skin and blood before screaming, screaming, screaming, and then waking up. My clothes clung to me, damp with sweat. The sheets were on the floor and I was on the edge of the bed, unusual considering I rarely moved in my sleep. It seemed as though I had been struggling, but I remembered being frightened for only a brief instant. I wasn't even sure what had scared me. Was it the sight of blood? I thought I'd gotten used to it.

"Yuri," I remembered suddenly, and fell onto the floor. I wasted no time but ran out of my room and towards his. The sunrise was visible through the windows. When had I been dreaming, and for how long?

The door was already ajar, and a slight push swung it open far enough to reveal Zhuzhen sitting on the bed. Zhuzhen, but no Yuri. A lump rose in my throat. "Where is he, Zhuzhen?"

The Adept shook his head. "We've just helped Roger Bacon." He buried his face into his hands. "He's gone," he said, his voice muffled, "and so are our supplies."

In that moment, all I could hear was raucous laughter.

---

Zhuzhen and I were forced to borrow money from Keith. He easily shrugged it off as payment for our services, but he had been absolutely truthful before when he'd said there was no treasure in Blue Castle.

"I guess this means our exorcist business in Prague will have to continue for a while," I mentioned as the three of us walked through the forest again.

Zhuzhen remained silent. He hadn't said a word to blame me for Sasha's appearance, but I knew must be thinking it. I had persuaded him not to keep watch, after all, and if he had we would at least still have our supplies. Sasha had been too weak to overpower anyone, especially Zhuzhen with his fire magic.

At the edge of the forest, Keith stopped and turned to look at Blue Castle. "Farewell, dear castle. Farewell, my ancestors." It seemed he would say more, but instead he regarded it carefully. I looked and saw the stone walls, still a deep, dark red.

"I thought it would be gone if Sasha's malice was gone," I said quietly.

The vampire pursed his lips thoughtfully. "The demon is gone, and yet it would seem the malice remains. Perhaps, then, it is another's."

Uncomfortable at the notion, my hand touched the cross around my neck out of habit. But this time it was my father's cross, not Anne's. I had cast that off while changing clothes and the silver cross now lay besides a set of nesting dolls.

---

Author's Note: First off, I'd like to say I'm sorry that I take so long to update. I really thought I'd be done at least last week, but then I was put off by another whole week and…yeah. Didn't go well.

Originally this chapter was going to have a different title. Then I changed it to Covenant because of both the promise Yuri made and the Covenant references in this chapter. There are also FtNW references: Hilda's room, not to mention the explanation I gave for Blue Castle's color is based off an idea I got from playing FtNW. It's not canon, just my imagination running around. I'm also debating adding one more chapter than was originally planned.

Finally, Yuri/Alice lovers: uh…please don't kill me for this chapter? ...I'm just gonna hide now.