8-year-old Faye bit hard on her lip, her eyes closed tight. Strapped almost naked on her stomach to a table, she prayed for the snapping of the whip on her back to end soon. The single white light above her added more additional burning sensations as she fought back tears of immense pain.

"This. Is what. You get. For disobeying me," hissed a voice in her ear with each whipcrack. Faye winced as she dared to open her eyes, seeing splattered specks of her blood through her tangled wine tresses. When the onslaught finally stopped, her assaulter then came up to her face.

"I let you off easy, little girl," Morris snickered evilly as he ran a finger down Faye's spine, eliciting a few shivers, "You try this again, you won't be so lucky." And he walked away and closed the industrial iron door behind him. Almost immediately, she gave in to her fatigue and blacked out.


The sun shined bleakly through the heavy cream curtains when Faye found herself waking up in a large plush bed. That, and the cloud-white nightgown she wore, were the softest things she had felt in a long time. Her long hair had been brushed into its waves, and her body was visibly mending.

Her body jumped in surprise. Sitting beside her bed was a young boy of around 10 or 11 dressed in a white button-up paired with navy blue breeches and suspenders. His emerald orbs widened in equal surprise as he came close to toppling backwards in his chair.

"You're awake," he whispered excitedly, a smile creeping on his face. Faye sat up cautiously, finally aware she was somewhere foreign. The room was large and ornate with windows reaching floor to ceiling, the sunlight bouncing off the crystal chandelier throwing rainbows all around. An elegant dresser, a changing screen, a small couch, and bedside tables with decorative lamps were the only furniture aside from the canopy bed.

"Where am I?" she asked slowly, her body tensing reflexively.

"Castle Village. My father and I found you in the woods not far from here," he answered softly, "You...were really hurt. What's your name?"

"...Faye. And who are you?"

"Emile. You don't have to be scared."

The bedroom door swung open behind him, and a tall stately man appeared in a crisp gray suit. He had the same emerald eyes and straight black hair as Emile. Upon seeing the two of them, his initial stern features softened as he strode to the bedside.

"Emile, making friends?" he asked kindly.

"Yeah! Faye just woke up."

"And looking much better. I'm Cain. I helped treat your wounds," he introduced. Faye lowered her gaze. "As I understand it, you've recently become an orphan."

"I don't know how you came to know, but yes sir," Faye answered quietly, almost tearfully, "Joja Corp had my parents killed when they wouldn't let Joja buy their specialized luxury products for sale. It was faster for them that way." Cain and Emile's faces fell.

"Well Faye, I'm the head of Castle Village, as well as a secret organization of...special hired hands," Cain said slowly, hiding a mischievous smile, "If you'd like, you're welcome to stay here." Both Faye's and Emile's faces lit up.

"Really?"

"Why not? My wife always wanted a daughter figure, and Emile and I could teach you to grow up a stronger woman," Cain shrugged casually, "I can give you time to think about it."

"Faye! It'll be fun!" Emile beamed, "We can play and try to learn how to do combat. You won't be hurt by anyone anymore."

Faye looked around in thought, her gaze looking at the quaint little green town outside the window. It was pleasant and open, and not at all like the congested layout of Zuzu City. She had been taken in by Morris when he appeared at the sight of her dead parents and ransacked house, and has since then almost forgotten the feel of a proper home.

She scanned for any sign of Joja and found none, and the idea of a real potential family and exacting revenge someday turned her confused frown into an excited smile.

"I'd like that very much."


"Faye, wake up! Please wake up!"

Her eyes snapped open, and she felt cold trails on her cheeks where tears left her. She looked up and saw Sam, who had been cradling her away from the beach underneath a makeshift cover of wooden planks in the town's border of beach mangroves.

"Sam, what happened? Where's Elliott?" she asked feebly, panting heavily as she regained her consciousness and composure. "We never found Willy!" Her legs felt like lead and her head was throbbing painfully.

"Don't worry about that right now. What's going on with you?" he asked sharply, "You've been weird since Haley's house. You almost mauled Elliott to death just now. You were becoming one of those things! You're my friend, Faye! I need to know what's happening in that head of yours."

By the time he finished, Faye just let the tears flow. The stress and pressure of the night had finally exploded, and her whole being was racked into an almost out-of-body experience. It was becoming too overbearing to keep everything to herself.

"Sam…" she started off slowly, trying to steady her breathing, "I've seen things I didn't want or expect to see. I felt Haley's insecurity of staying young and pretty from social pressure to stand out when I fought her. And then with Elliott…"

"What happened?" Sam pressed. Faye swallowed hard. She was still reeling from the effects.

"I saw a glimpse of Elliott's childhood while we fought. Domestic abuse," she answered shortly, which quieted Sam. "Hey… Remember when I jumped first into Abi's room?"

Sam looked down at her. "Yeah. Why?"

"I took a Stardrop out of my pack," Faye went on, still quiet, "Some of the black on it sucked up that godforsaken mist. And then they both began to seep through my fingers and into my body."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sam started, but Faye hushed him.

"I began...recalling things I had kept out of mind for a long time," she replied, "Messing with Haley and Elliott in particular brought them out of me."

"Speaking of that...Who's Emile?" Sam inquired. He felt Faye give off a violent shiver as she choked back more tears to speak.

"He was...my brother of sorts, I suppose," she murmured, a fond smile creeping on her lips, "He found me along with whi was going to call my father. They took me in like I was natural family even though I was never formally adopted. Everybody in Castle Village knew Emile and I were virtually inseparable. I'm sure people were under the impression we had something almost incestuous." She chuckled nervously.

"Did something happen to him?"

"Joja hunted us for taking incriminating papers documenting illegal exploitation of people shipped from across the Gem Sea. Morris had prepared a firing squad for if they saw us," Faye's tone slowly turned bitter as hot angry tears resurfaced, "They captured me, and shot him in front of me on my 18th birthday."

"Morris? That geezer who ran Joja here?" Sam asked in utter surprise.

"The very same," Faye affirmed, "At Haley's house, it was another memory altogether, a bit more recent…" She sat up to face Sam, and recounted the memory of hers and her mother's assault. Blood and adrenaline were pumping through her veins like ice, rendering her soon incapable of feeling anything around her. "Fighting Haley reminded me of my inability to help defend my mother back then." Sam went pale as a sheet.

"Is your mom…alright?" he asked slowly. Faye nodded assuredly.

"Yes… She recovered, and so did I eventually. She and dad are okay, but not a day goes by when we all don't think about Emile," she answered. "He would've liked to see Morris get done in the face by Pierre," she snickered weakly as they both stood up. Sam joined in warily.

"It's a pity I missed it." He then pulled Faye into a hug. "You never told anyone all this, have you?" he whispered. He felt her shake her head as she reciprocated tightly.

"No. You're the first," she choked as her legs turned to jelly, "I came here for a fresh start. Now I'm…infected."

"Not on my watch," Sam said determinedly as he looked her straight in the eye. It was a more comforting gaze than all the others so far, and Faye welcomed it warmly as he gripped her hands gently. "You're still fighting it. Let's just get to the others and finish all this."

Faye exhaled readily. She handed the acquired Stardrop from her pocket, and Sam placed the bruised and corrupted fruit gingerly into the pack. "Alright. We already got over half the town." The more she regained her self-control, the more Faye suddenly became conscious. "Sorry for unloading all this on you, Sam...Thanks for hearing me out."

"We've hung out a lot in and outta band practice, and you haven't lost your composure once. You had to crack some time," Sam smiled as they began heading out of the mangroves, "I'm glad I was the one to help. You don't have to take on everything all by yourself, but I'm wondering...did you do anything to Morris after Pierre socked him?"

"You can bet I did," Faye smirked, limping slightly, "I won't say what, but he won't be bothering or exploiting anyone else ever again...Hey, what's that?"

There was an upturned boat on the beach that had begun wriggling around due to someone or something inside of it.

"Now would be a good time to tell me what happened to Elliott," she muttered to Sam, who had drawn the Galaxy sword he still held on to.

"Well...the black stuff that came from Elliott made a small explosion. His cabin is practically gone and we were all blown back," Sam answered matter-of-factly as he nudged Faye behind him and inched towards the boat.

Using the sword, he tipped it over. Underneath it lay Elliott, who was coughing and sputtering sand as it was whipped up by wind. His cheek was swelling and numerous bruises were forming near his eyes. A cut above his brow was bleeding a thin stream of blood mixed with dirt and sand.

"Huh, I don't remember going sailing today...My god! Where's my house?!" he exclaimed in panic as he scrambled to his feet.

"We could get Robin to help rebuild maybe a bigger and better cabin for you," Faye suggested uneasily before adding under her breath, "If we survive all of this."

"Faye! Sam! What a surprise to you see you here," Elliott seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief, "I don't suppose you have any idea what happened or what to do now?"

"Do you happen to know where Willy went? We came to check on you guys," Sam told him. Elliott racked his brain.

"I remember seeing him heading up to the mountain lake some time ago," he said thoughtfully, "Maybe he never came back."

"We haven't seen him anywhere around here. I hope he's safe. Let's head back to Mayor Lewis's place before we go up that way," Faye said as she whipped three Life Elixirs from ingredients in the pack. I'm sorry about your face, Elliott. I hope that stuff doesn't scar.

She handed one to Sam and to Elliott, and with a quick toast, drank, and looked up. The barrier she had thrown was still visually intact, though the hordes of monsters it blocked were outside like zombies bumping aimlessly to break through.

One look at the sight from the other two guys, and the three of them sprinted away from the demolished beach and back into town.