No reviews yet. Oh well. All this's already been written. Just in case anyone who's reading this doesn't know, this is only one out of five different perspectives this story is told by. It was written by many others than just me, but if enough people express interest, I might be doing an entire rewriting of the story so I can weave one complete web.

My Chapter - Twisted Justice -

There's you.

She awoke to the sound of silence. Around her she saw that nothing had changed. The village had not come back, and it probably never would, yet she felt no guilt now. Sadness, yes, but it was an inevitability she knew she would never live without.

But it isn't about me is it?

She got to her feet, and as she did, the voice spoke again.

It is each other...
What do you mean?

But there was no reply.

Victoria Island.

It had been her home for as long as she could remember, but now she realized that she had never really seen anything of it.

Perion... E... Ellinia. Henesys. Kerning... Lith.

She recalled the names of the principal cities as though from over a vast distance, even though she still remembered...

"Yue!"

Her Guardian snapped again, exasperated at the lack of interest his charge showed in her own education.

She studied his face in her memories, surprised how well she still remembered him. He had been stern and very strict to her, and she realized now that she had felt more than a little resentment at being treated like a little girl.

But now it's too late.
Not too late for you.

She jumped. The voice came out of nowhere, yet it seemed as though its presence had been always there.

South-East of here you will find one of the Children of Fate.
Alone in a forest... Unafraid but confused; he needs your help.

He?

Her outburst came before she knew what she was doing.

The voice began to sound a little exasperated.

You didn't expect the Children of Fate to be all female, did you?
No... But...

If she could have seen the face the voice belonged to, she was sure it would have been rolling its eyes.

He needs your help. And, like it or not, you need his.

Her descent down the mountain was uneventful. She watched the sky for any sign of the Dawnbreakers, but none appeared.

It was as if after destroying the last human outpost of Perion, they saw no need to patrol it anymore.

Her hand curled into a fist; her face resolute as she sped down a path that was almost perpendicular to the ground. It was the quickest way down she knew, but one which would have killed most ordinary humans.

But I am who I am.

And I will not rest until I have my Justice.

The forest of Ellinia...

Many a time she had seen it from atop the mountain... it had seemed so small; so insignificant. Now that she was standing in front of it however...

It's huge.
I know.

Awestruck, she stepped into the shaded cool of the trees.

It was like going underwater. All of a sudden, the whispers of the wind, the presence of rock and sand faded away; to be replaced by a sense of the wild... of the untamed.

A flock of strange birds chorused in a cacophony of sounds,

Different, but not unpleasant.

Her instincts as a Scout told her first to get to know the place around her, and yet at the same time curiosity told her to further explore this; an untouched kingdom, without caring about danger or traps.

The canopy of trees above her blocked out all but a few of the sun's rays, which refracted off dewdrops gathered on leaves on some of the taller trees.

It was light. It was color. It was vibrance.

It was why you wanted to become a Scout, wasn't it?

She paused; startled.

How can you know so much about me?
I told you before.

I am your past, present and future.

She jumped; from the large branch she had been standing on, to a smaller branch, twenty feet below.

Exhilaration; it was her first time out, alone, without anyone to stop her from having fun.

But then she remembered.

Except yourself.

And all of a sudden the guilt returned. Here she was, enjoying herself; experiencing what she had never been able to before, when her people were dead and gone...

And she was their only hope.

The sudden realization brought coldness to her features. She touched the scar along her leg as if to remind herself.

The Crimson Tide had done this.

And they would pay.

Three hours in... And still nothing.

Exhausted...

She sank down to the ground, resting at the foot of a giant tree.

Heh...
What now?
Nothing... only...

The voice just seemed to love to bait her.

We've arrived.
What!

Getting to her feet, she froze.

And stared.

The forest around her was no less green, no less full of color and life, but there was something here. For the first time she realized she hadn't been walking on the ground.

Thick branches and vines lashed together to form a strong platform. She knew immediately that this must have taken at least a hundred years to form.

More like three hundred.

Three hundred years. So much happened on that day so long ago...

More than you will know.

For the first time she heard the voice speak with a tinge of sadness. Sadness at something it had lost; something it desperately needed to find. She felt it sense her inquiring thoughts, but instead of responding, it faded away.

But what of the world below?

The platform ended a few feet ahead. Carefully, she walked to the edge and peered over.

Burning...

Balrog's rage...

Defiance; and defeat...

Images crowded her mind, flashing past her one by one in an inexorable parade. Dancing around inside her head, she felt lost, confused... but strangely she understood them all.

And then they were gone.

She struggled. Struggled to keep those memories with her. She knew they were important, but it was useless. Like a castle built upon the sand, the wave of time washed it all away.

The city of Ellinia might have stood proud at the best of times, but now it was little more than a scar. A scar which time would heal eventually; that it might disappear into the past.

The voice burst out vehemently.

It won't!

But then it was silent.

It's as though it's in a waking dream... And there's no escape.

Struggling to keep her mind to the task at hand, she forced herself to take a look once more at the city that seemed to have given the voice such painful memories.

And then she saw him.

He was sitting on the ground, an insignificant speck from where she stood. But besides, he was doing very little.

He doesn't seem to need much help...
But he does. More than you do, in fact.

Heeding the voice, she began her descent down towards the ground. She was used to the hard, sun-baked ground of the Perion Mountains; she sprang confidently from her branch to one some ten feet to her right.

But this wasn't Perion.

Immediately things went wrong as a vine caught her in mid leap. It tugged on to the ragged strip of cloth around her leg and refused to let go.

Now a group of small monkeys had gathered around her, jabbering and pointing excitedly.

Nice to know I'm appreciated.

In irritation, she tore the cloth from her leg. Now the scar was laid bare again.

Not that it'll matter anymore.

She plummeted ten feet down before she thought of grabbing onto a vine. It slowed down her fall, considerably, but when she finally did land on the ground, it was with a resounding thump.

Thump.

The boy looked up at her.

She looked at him.

She wondered what she was meant to say. Wasn't the rescuee the one to pour forth words of gratitude? Tilting her head to a side, she appraised him quickly.

He was around her age; perhaps older, but the look of confusion on his face made him seem like a little boy; lost. He was wearing a ragged plerobe which looked as though it had been a sack of potatoes in its previous incarnation; ragged and torn. His hands were delicate; from the look of it he had never lifted anything heavier than perhaps a small stone in his life.

She started as she realized his head was also tilted to a side.

Is he... copying me?

But then he spoke.

"Who are you?"

As if there was nothing surprising about her suddenly falling in from the sky in the middle of an old ruin.

"My... my name's Yue. What's yours?"

He frowned.

"My name's..."

His voice sounded artificial; as if he didn't know how to speak.

He doesn't know.

"I don't know."

Toldja.

What am I supposed to do with him?

She jumped. She looked down and saw that he had crawled over to her and put his hands on her thigh.

What... what is he doing!

Before she could speak his eyes were closed.

Heal...

She heard his mind's voice echoing in her mind. It had a pleasant lilt to it, and sounded a lot more sincere than his actual voice had been.

She felt a rush of energy spread from his hands into her legs. The feeling was actually... rather nice. She let herself drift away as she felt the multiple cuts and bruises on her body melt away.

She was almost sorry when he finally let go. A faint smile on his lips, he stood up and walked over to one of the trees, as if studying it. Then he sat down under it and resumed his cross-legged position.

She looked at her leg. The skin was unblemished; the scar was gone.

How did he do that?
He doesn't know, yet.
What? But then...
He follows his instincts; a bit like you... He's paid the heaviest price among all of you.
All of us?

She watched as he closed his eyes and lost himself in his mind.

Do you feel anything for him?
What!
No... I mean... can you feel his presence in your mind?

She thought back to when he had laid his hands on her... The peace of his mind...

When he healed me... Yes... I think I did.
The boy... He's the one who will bring the eight of you together.
You mean, like a leader?

The mild-mannered boy who didn't know who he was didn't seem like a likely candidate on Yue's top 10 Leaders of the Children of Fate list. If she had had one.

He would never call himself that.
How do you know so much about him?
The same way he knows about you.
Me?

But the voice was gone.

He has paid the heaviest price...

She thought of the price she had to pay. How could his price possibly be worse?

Wait a second...
Heal...
The boy...

She played their voices back in her mind. What seemed so familiar about both these voices?

One who walks the twilight...

And in that instant, she knew.