As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

Dwarven Vow 111:
Saoilidh an duin' air mhisg gum bi a h-uile duin' air mhisg ach e fhèin.
The drunk man thinks himself the only one sober.

13-

What a strange dream.

Whenever Kratos woke up from an odd dream, he tried to reconstruct the details of it before they left his mind. It wasn't that he believed his dreams to have any power of prophecy, he simply tried to stay in tune to his own subconscious. For so long he'd done without sleep, the concept of dreams was still vaguely unfamiliar and off-putting. When they were this vivid, he couldn't help but wonder what his mind was trying to tell him. It had been a long time since he'd seen Martel in his dreams- and what had she been asking, anyway? Something about Yuan…?

Ah, well. He couldn't remember. Lost in thought and still half-asleep, he felt a chill to his left where Anna should have been. Her side of the bed was empty but still warm, and Kratos' gaze flew over to the corner of the room where Noishe was whining, pressed up against Anna's legs. She was standing at the vanity, nearly doubled over with her face over the washbasin, one hand covering her mouth as she fought back a strong bout of nausea.

"Anna?" Kratos slid out of bed and approached her. He was going to put his hands on her shoulders, but she suddenly jerked forward and heaved the contents of her stomach into the washbasin. Kratos turned on his heels and ran to the kitchen, returning with a glass of water and a wet rag. Anna was still standing unsteadily at the vanity, but it seemed that her nausea had abated now that she'd emptied her stomach, and Kratos led her back to sit on the bed.

"Don't worry; I'll clean up. Drink some water, okay?" Kratos pressed the rag against her forehead and cheeks while Noishe hopped onto the bed and curled up beside her.

"S-sorry…" Anna mumbled, draining the last of the water from the glass. "I was trying not to wake you up."

"You didn't. I had an odd dream." Kratos shook his head. "But I'm glad I woke up when I did. This is the third time this week you've been up in the middle of the night, Anna-"

She held up one hand to cut him off. "I know what you're going to say, but I'm really alright."

"You're not, and you really need to rethink your involvement in our Meltokio assignment. You can't be expected to respond to an emergency situation when you're feeling like this. I'll rearrange the placements, and-" Kratos stopped as he saw Anna double over again and cover her mouth. He rose to his feet, asking "do you need me to get you something-?" but she was already waving for him to sit back down.

"No, it's fine," she replied, straightening up again. "I drank too fast, I think."

Kratos stayed standing, watching the way she was trying to steady her breathing. Noishe's whines intensified and he gently nudged her cheek with his nose. Anna patted Noishe on the head, but the smile she gave was obviously forced.

"Anna, you can't keep this up," Kratos finally spoke up again. "You ought to see a doctor. This can't possibly be normal."

"What are you talking about?" Anna replied, the smile disappearing from her face. "It's just at night, and I'm always fine by mid-morning. It'll go away on its own within a month or two, just like with Lloyd-"

"Don't try to shrug it off. This is way worse than it was with Lloyd."

Anna crossed her arms, leaning forward towards him. "No, it's about the same. I would know."

"You're exaggerating," Kratos shot back. "I don't ever remember you being up every night like this. It's way different now-"

She interrupted him before he could go any further. "I know you don't remember. The difference is, I'm not trying to hide it from you this time."

Even Noishe went silent at the sound of that. Kratos froze up and stayed still for a moment before drawing in a breath. Anna could see that he wasn't sure what to say, and she turned her head to look away toward the window.

"You do remember that, don't you? I was just so scared of what you'd say, I didn't want to-"

"I recall." Kratos cut her off, clearing his throat. "But I didn't think that- er, I mean- I didn't realize that it was nearly this bad."

Anna smiled, a genuine smile this time. "Then I did a good job, didn't I?"

"Quit acting so smug! You're in pain, aren't you?"

She didn't respond, absentmindedly tapping on the glass she was holding. Finally she shoved the glass in Kratos' direction and rose to her feet. "Get me some more water, will you? I'm going to open the window to get some fresh air."

"Don't look so chipper all of a sudden! You know I'm worried about you, Anna!"

Kratos' voice stopped her right in front of the window, and she turned to look back. Noishe began to whine, a long, drawn-out noise rather than his usual punctuated cries. Anna shifted her weight a little, her eyes darting uneasily back and forth between Kratos and Noishe.

"Thank you."

"Huh?"

"I assumed so," Anna tugged at the collar of her shirt, "but hearing you say it makes me happy. Ever since what happened with Lloyd and me, you've been so much more cold and reserved than you used to. I know I can't understand or change what you went through, but it's good to see you, uh-" She paused and stopped to find the word. "-emote a little."

Kratos approached her, placing his free hand on her shoulder. "I know that I don't show it as often as I should, but I love you and I love this new life we've made. It's possible that I can be a little stern or overbearing, but it's only because being here with you makes me sohappy."

An amused smile spread over Anna's face and she choked back a laugh. "Pfft, only you could say something so sweet with such a deadpan expression."

"Anna."

The note of exasperation in his voice prompted Anna to break into a fit of laughter. Hearing this, Noishe jumped off the bed and pressed himself against Anna's side, his tail wagging so violently that Kratos had to dodge it or risk getting knocked over.

Anna's laughter, however, was cut off abruptly as she choked, gagged, and stumbled past Noishe back to the washbasin in the corner. A few heaves produced nothing, but she was finally successful in bringing up what only could have been the water she'd drunk just minutes before. Kratos approached her, but she waved him off with a stammered "o-open the window."

He did so, throwing back the curtains and shoving the windowpane out of the way. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt the cool night air on his face and then turned to bring Anna over, but something caught his attention and stopped him immediately.

"What the-?"

Anna heard his statement and noticed the fur on Noishe's back beginning to bristle. "Kratos? Is something wrong?"

"I smell smoke," Kratos murmured.

"Smoke?" Anna covered her mouth with her hand and drew closer to the window. "I smell it too-" She paused and gagged, but quickly regained her composure enough to motion for Kratos to close the window. "Ugh. Who would be having a barbecue so early in the morning?"

"A barbecue…" He began and then groaned. "Anna, there's probably a building on fire!"

"A building? Why would anyone want to barbecue a building?"

"This is not the time for those sort of gags!"

Kratos grabbed Anna by the shoulders and steered her back towards the bed. He grabbed the glass from where she'd set it on the vanity and handed it back to her.

"I'm going to go find out what's happening and what I can do to help. Stay here, get some water- drink it slowly- and lie down."

"But-"

He waved a hand to cut her off. "No buts! Noishe, go find Lloyd and make sure he's alright, then come back here and stay with Anna."

Noishe gave a sharp bark in response and ran out the door as soon as Kratos opened it. Even just stepping out onto the porch, Kratos could already smell the smoke and see a yellowish glowing coming from the direction of the lake.

"Oh no…"

Lloyd and Sheena followed Noishe around the corner of the street toward the docks, but they both froze up as soon as the lake came into view. Sheena gasped and threw one hand over her mouth, but Lloyd much louder with his expression of horror.

"Th-th-the…" He found himself stammering in disbelief. "...the water is on fire?!"

Before anyone could answer his half-question, he heard a voice call from across the way. "Lloyd, there you are! Get over here!"

"Kratos?" Lloyd stammered his father's name before glancing back and Sheena and running over to where Kratos was waving. A group of people had gathered around the dock, trying to put out the fire that had engulfed the wood, but it didn't seem to be of any use. The more they scooped up water from the clear edges of the lake, the closer the fire drew to them. The end of the dock was burnt through and smouldering pieces continued to fall into the water, sending small plumes of flame up where they splashed in.

"A group went to get some more water from the inn's well," Kratos explained. "Everyone's trying to save the dock and the bridges, but if we don't put out the whole fire, the effort is going to be wasted.

"What kind of magic is that?" Lloyd demanded. "What kind of spell are they using to set fire to water?"

"It's not the water. There's a slick of kerosene on top of the lake. Someone's set fire to that."

Sheena was looking around frantically, distracted by the chaos around them. "Can't we put it out somehow? Y'know- get someone in a boat to go out there and pour water on it?"

"Pouring water doesn't work," Kratos responded. "Oil and water don't mix. Unless you could smother all the flames at once, the kerosene displaced by the water would only rise to the top again to reignite."

"Oh, oh, I know this one!" Lloyd spoke up. "It's like, when you have an oil fire on the stove. Genis taught me never to pour water on it, 'cause it'll make things worse. Instead, he said you should just put a lid on the pot to suffocate the flames… or something."

Sheena gave Lloyd a gentle hit on the back of the head. "Perfect idea," she muttered, "let's just put a lid on the entire lake."

"W-well, I was just-!"

Kratos cut him off, his expression darkening as he thought the situation over. "I wish we had something big enough to smother the flames. Maybe if we had the innkeepers soak some of their larger sheets in water, we could use them. Though I can't say whether they would be big enough to make a difference..."

"Or," Sheena broke in, "or I could get a Summon Spirit to help instead!"

"Like Gnome?" Lloyd asked. "If you pour dirt on a fire, you can put it out, right? He did ask for something cool to do."

"I was thinking Undine, but now that you mention it, dirt might be better than water in this case. Or maybe mud-"

From the direction of the dock, they could hear someone calling for Kratos. He sighed and turned around, running in that direction. With a wave back in Lloyd and Sheena's direction, he called out "whatever you're going to do, do it fast!"

Lloyd glanced over at Sheena, but she was already fumbling through her pockets to retrieve the talismans that she'd grabbed on the way out. "Stand back, alright? I'm going to summon both of them for good measure."

"Will you be alright?"

"It'll be fine." Once Lloyd had stepped back, she held up the talismans and called out, having to raise her voice to hear herself over the chaos around them. "I call upon the servant of Mother Earth! I call upon the maiden of the mist! I summon thee, come Gnome, come Undine!"

The shock wave from her summons nearly knocked her over, but when she regained her balance she could see the two figures materializing against the dark sky.

"Please," Sheena called, "I need you to create a blanket of mud to extinguish the flames!"

"Sure thing, kid!" Gnome's voice boomed around them."Now this is a job suited for a Summon Spirit!"

Undine was not quite as enthusiastic as Gnome, but she was cooperative. "You might want to cover your face. This could get messy."

The warning was given without time to properly prepare, and before Sheena could even follow Undine's instructions, a blast of energy came from above the lake and a massive sheet of silty mud crashed into the water. It instantly extinguished the flames, but at the same time it created a large wave that splashed and soaked everyone standing anywhere near the shore with a mix of water and silt. The boats tied to the dock were knocked against each other, some overturning in the wake, and by the time that Sheena managed to wipe the mud off her face, the summon spirits had disappeared and all the eyes of the townspeople were on her.

"O-oops…" Sheena murmured, noticing the destruction along the dock and the horrible mess that everyone was covered in. She prepared herself for some harsh words, but the reactions were surprisingly positive.

"I didn't know the Summoner Sheena was here!" "I knew we could count on you!""I've never seen anyone put out a fire like that before- that was some quick thinking." "Thank you, Sheena!"

Lloyd ran up to her and hugged her from behind. "That was great!"

"Ew, Lloyd, let go. You're covered in mud."

"So are you."

"I know. You're making it worse."

"I'm not-"

"Lloyd! Sheena! Come over here!" Kratos' voice interrupted them, and they could see him standing by the dock- or what remained of it, at least- and waving in their direction. They ran to join him, not sure what to expect. Lloyd was hoping that Sheena would get more praise, but instead, they arrived to a pointed question.

"Do either of you know someone in Meltokio-" Kratos began, "-by the name Doctor J.H. Watson?"

Lloyd and Sheena frowned, glancing at one another. They answered at the same time, both shaking their heads.

"No. Never heard of him." "Can't say that I have. Sorry."

Kratos gave a disappointed sigh. "I see. That makes sense. Thank you, though."

"Wait," Lloyd responded, "who is he anyway?"

"That's-"

Before Kratos could finish his response, the man he'd been talking to stepped in front of him to cut him off and address them instead.

"-he's the bastard that did this!"

Having Raine taking care of him all day made Genis feel like a kid again.

She stayed by his bed all morning and kept switching out a cool rag on his forehead to help his fever go down. By lunchtime he was feeling much better, and so she went out to buy them something for lunch- she was willing to admit that her cooking might end up making him worse. Upon her return, she was happy to share the news that the vandals who'd planted the bombs on the university's campus had been apprehended.

"They're apparently part of a group that calls themselves the Church of Mana," she reported as they ate.

"Is that what the Church of Martel is calling themselves now?"

"I don't know. All I got is what Mister Ellis told me. I'm glad Professor Low was able to turn them in. Who knows what further damage they could have caused?"

Genis was silent for a moment. "I don't know. I don't like the fact that they had access to one of the university's storage closets. That makes the whole thing seem like an inside job to me. You don't think someone is-?"

Raine cut him off before he could finish and changed the topic of conversation. He knew that she was uncomfortable with the idea, but they wouldn't get anywhere by setting it aside and refusing to discuss it. Even with those two vandals turned in, there was still the matter of that Watson guy they spoke of…

Genis didn't bring it up again, but it bothered him the rest of the night.

The siblings were awoken sometime in the middle of the night by the sound of a large blast. Genis sat up in shock, still disoriented as Raine rushed to the window. She couldn't see anything in the direction of the university, and in fact saw lights on around the harbor area. Before Genis could ask what was going on, she was already getting dressed to go out, so he followed suit. While he insisted that he was healthy enough to go despite her protests, he wasn't fast enough on his feet and got left behind as they made their way through the streets. For the moment he stopped worrying about keeping up and instead strolled by the marina to see what the damage was. The boats all looked fine and in-order, but part of the boardwalk was torn up, as though it had been blasted from underneath. There wasn't, however, any kind of caustic scent left in the air like he would expect from an explosion created by gunpowder nor were there any burn marks left on the wood, and Genis began to wonder about the nature of the explosion.

By the time he reached the other side of the boardwalk where a small crowd was forming, Raine was already deep into a conversation with a police officer.

"The assumed culprit goes by the name Doctor J.H. Watson. They claim no affiliation to the university, but even so-"

"I can assure you, we don't have any staff members with the surname Watson," Raine replied with a vehement shake of her head. "Whoever it is, they were telling the truth when they said they were unaffiliated with the university."

"But I'm afraid it's not that simple. The university is the only place to access the dry ice that was used in the vandalism. This Dr. Watson must have had access to the university's resources or received help from someone who did."

"Watson?" Genis asked. "How do you know for sure that's the guy who did it?"

Raine glanced over, surprised to see Genis having caught up as quickly as he did. "Listen, Genis, someone by that name has been sending threatening letters to the owner of the marina-"

"But isn't he an outspoken opponent of the Alpha-Beta Project? Why would vandals against the project attack the property of someone who supports them?"

The police officer cleared her throat. "I'm afraid you misunderstand, Mister Sage. This Dr. Watson was sending letters advocating that the marina owner support the university's scientific endeavors or face consequences."

"C-consequences…" Genis stammered. "You mean, someone's threatening violence for the sake of the project?"

"Yes, that appears to be the case-"

"No," Raine interrupted, her voice low and almost hoarse. "This person may think they're doing a service to the scientific community, but violence will only breed more violence and hatred. I don't know anything about who could be behind this, but tomorrow I'll head to Meltokio and tell Professor Low all about it. We won't stop until we find out who's been misusing university resources and put a stop to it. I refuse to let my cause stoop to the level of its hard-headed opponents."

Even the police officer seemed put off by the severity of Raine's statement. She drew back and offered a nervous nod of approval. "W-well, Professor Sage, I ask that you keep your limits in mind and leave the duties of law enforcement up to trained professionals. But if you or Professor Low uncover any pertinent information, bring it to us as soon as possible."

"Trust me. We will."

Not wanting to ask Raine anything more about it, Genis had to piece together the details himself. A dry ice bomb, huh? That relied only on the pressure of the sublimating gas to create an explosion rather than a chemical reaction, which explained why there were no burns or smell associated with the broken boardwalk. It wasn't the work of the chemicals that he'd smelled in the storage closet the previous night, but even so, he couldn't get the name Watson out of his head. When the vandals had mentioned it, he'd assumed it was a first name and perhaps just an accomplice. But the idea that it was the surname of someone important- possibly a ringleader- was much more jarring.

At least despite Raine's reaction, she had the right plan. If anyone would know anything about what those vandals were up to, it would be Professor Low. Genis just hoped that the damage- not just to the boardwalk, but to the project's reputation- wasn't permanent.