~ Day Three ~

Enduring Aria

Is this what you're searching for?

Are you scared to know the truth?

Now, open your eyes,

The pieces are all over,

Now, you should accept this,

It is over…

"… so we get inside the arena, and right away, I knew that we had made a mistake. Williams, that guy who seemed nervous about it before, was standing right next to me. He started shaking like mad once we were inside," Faith said.

"Ooh. That doesn't sound good. Was he sick or something?" Celia asked.

"That's exactly what I asked him," Faith replied. "He insisted he was fine, but he certainly didn't seem that way. I was tempted to call the whole thing off, but the others – or at least, the others on my team – balked at the idea. We went inside and found ourselves a good hiding spot, with Williams shivering the whole way as if he were slowly freezing to death."

"That's awful!" Celia said.

"Oh, that's not the awful part," Faith grinned. "About thirty seconds after we got into position, the lights went out. Williams made this odd, strangled, squeaking noise, and at first, I thought someone stepped on a mouse or something. Then he just dropped to the ground and went catatonic."

"He what!?" Celia gasped.

Faith shook his head ruefully. "We started calling for help, of course, and the other team didn't have a clue what we were yelling about, so they rounded the corner and started blasting away. It was complete chaos until the refs realized something was wrong and flipped the lights back on. The paramedics showed up soon after; they had Williams on a stretcher and halfway to the ambulance by the time he could speak again. Turns out the poor guy has nyctophobia."

Celia frowned. "Nyctophobia? What's that?"

"Irrational fear of the dark. Or night, technically, but in this case, dark," Faith explained. "So, yeah. That was our first and last attempt at Laser Tag Friday. Now we just do Monopoly Mondays."

"Monopoly Mondays? So you guys are playing tonight?" Celia asked curiously.

"Nah. We start the games at around noon, usually. They've been trying to drag me into it, too, but poring over a board game for four hours straight isn't really my thing," Faith answered.

"Four hours?" Celia echoed. "Monopoly shouldn't take that long, does it?"

"It does when you throw some house rules, a few beers, and free pizza into the mix," Faith shuddered. "Trust me. It's not a pretty sight."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad," Celia giggled.

"Then I guess ignorance really is bliss," Faith teased. "So, what about you? What kind of things do you do in your spare time?"

"Spare time?" Celia asked, feigning a puzzled look. "What's that?"

The two of them shared a quick laugh.

"Honestly, I haven't had much time to myself since I graduated," Celia admitted. "When I'm not working on a specific commission, I'm usually working on one of my own ideas. That way, I can still share them later and see if it catches anyone's attention."

"You must really love what you do, then," Faith said. "I've heard before that nothing ruins a hobby more quickly than trying to make a living from it, but that doesn't seem to have been the case for you."

"Well, it's not easy," Celia said. "Sometimes, it feels like it was all just a big mistake. It would be so much easier just to give up, and do something ordinary instead, you know? But then, I try to imagine what my life would be like, and it… it doesn't feel right. That's just not who I want to be."

"Are you happy with the way things are, then?" Faith asked, sounding surprised. "You know, you didn't really strike me as the ambitious type before, but you seem pretty determined. You'd have to be, to have gotten as far as you have."

"I haven't really gotten all that far," Celia said, blushing. "I still have a long way to go, but yeah, I'd say I'm happy with the way things have been. I don't really know if it's about ambition or determination, either. I like expressing myself through my work, and even if it doesn't quite reach everyone, as long as I can keep trying, I think I'll be content."

When Celia awoke the following morning, she couldn't find the will to move at all. She simply laid there upon the uncomfortable concrete sidewalk, unable to sleep, yet distant to the world nonetheless. Cars drove by and pedestrians stepped through her, all without her noticing.

"You have to keep going," Celia whispered to herself drearily. Even as that thought crossed her mind, though, she was beset by her memories of the day before.

Arguing with her partner, whose hatred of her was far beyond her comprehension. Watching other Players succumb to the Noise. Unintentionally sabotaging Blake's first attempt at real cooperation. Facing Reapers far beyond her, and learning that the worst was yet to come.

Seeing what had become of those she had left behind.

Celia knew that it was time to get up. She knew that she needed to steel herself for the challenges that awaited her. She just couldn't find the strength to do it.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and heard the soft ringtone indicating that their mission had arrived. The palm of her hand stung as the timer appeared, and still, she remained motionless.

"Hey. The mission's here."

"I know," Celia said tiredly, though she immediately regretted speaking aloud; Blake sounded as rude and indifferent as ever, and she simply couldn't imagine having a civil conversation with him in her present state.

Blake stared at her for several seconds before speaking again. "You know there's a…" he began dryly. But he stopped, and seemed to reconsider his words. "There's a time limit, remember?" he said, in a far softer tone. "We should try to get started as soon as possible."

"I thought you said you were long past the point of caring what happens?" Celia asked bitterly, throwing Blake's own words back at him.

Blake had no answer to that, and fell silent once more. He stared at her for a while, his expression inscrutable. He then turned and looked out towards the road, watching as the cars went by, fragments of the world living on without them.

Then Blake looked to the left, and noticed a familiar coffee shop waiting nearby. "I did say that, didn't I?" Blake conceded. "If you don't care anymore either, I guess that's fair. In that case, do you mind if I go and grab a coffee?"

"Go ahead," Celia said indifferently.

"I… I need you to come with me, though, remember?" Blake reminded. "If I get jumped by Noise while getting my coffee, I'd like to be able to fight back, at least. You don't have to fight any Noise if you don't want to. Just draw, I don't know, a castle around yourself or something, and let me handle them."

Celia sighed. "Fine," she said, pulling herself wearily to her feet. She winced when she saw where they were and recognized the coffee shop Blake was headed towards.

"Something wrong?" Blake asked.

Celia shook her head, and followed Blake up to the store's entrance. Once there, she paused, peering hesitantly through the windows.

"You might as well come in. No reason to stand out here waiting," Blake said, pulling the door open.

Reluctantly, Celia followed Blake inside. The barista, a young woman who Celia recognized at once, smiled warmly at them as they entered. It was just as Michael had warned them, though, for there were no signs of recognition in the barista's eyes.

"What do you want?" Blake asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Celia said.

"You come here all the time, don't you? What do you normally order?" Blake asked impatiently.

Celia sighed. "Fine. A short dark roast, then," she said, deciding it best not to argue. Then, out of habit, she began moving across the small shop towards her usual seat in the corner. Once there, she gazed distantly out of the nearest window, her fragmented memories and thoughts churning relentlessly.

"Interesting pin you've got there."

Celia turned and looked up to see an unfamiliar man standing in front of her. He looked Japanese, and wasn't much larger than she was, standing about five-and-a-half feet tall. He wore a fairly plain white shirt and an old-fashioned black vest. His medium-length hair stood up in the front, and a pair of dark sunglasses rested atop of his head.

"They're all the rage where I come from," the man explained. "The pins, I mean. Even designed a few of them myself. Don't think I've seen that particular design before, though." The man spoke with a light, yet distinct, Japanese accent.

Celia gave the stranger an odd look. For some inexplicable reason, she found herself reminded of Michael. It made very little sense; Michael and this stranger both appeared to be in their mid-30s, but that was just about the only similarity between them.

"Something wrong?" the stranger asked curiously.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to stare," Celia apologized. "I was just wondering, um…"

"Where I'm from?" the man guessed. "I'm from Tokyo, Japan. Shibuya, specifically. Call me Hanekoma." He took a sip from his coffee. "So, what's the deal with the pins here? Do you folks just collect them and wear them?"

"I don't know. Someone gave me mine," Celia explained. She looked down at her Player pin, which remained clipped to her shirt, then reached into her pocket. She quickly retrieved her stylus pin, as well as the other pin Faith had left her and the unusual glass feather. For the first time, she took a good look at the latter two; she only vaguely remembered collecting them from the memorial the day before, and had yet to pay any attention to the unusual designs.

The pin had been painted a rich shade of turquoise, with a light, wave-like pattern spiraling inwards from the left and right sides. A vertical bolt of white lightning, framed by a thick, pale yellow border, divided the pin's design in two. The word 'Pegaso' had been spelled out across the pin in an elegant hand drawn style, but the silver lettering seemed to blend in with the background, making it difficult to read.

As Celia palmed the smooth glass feather, she realized it was actually a small hairclip. It resembled the trinkets sold from small arts-and-crafts booths in Seattle's open-air markets, but the glass seemed impossibly cool, almost as if it were not glass at all, but ice.

"That one I recognize," Hanekoma noted, eyeing the lightning bolt pin. "Lightning Rook from Pegaso. It's quite pricey, and a real collector's item, from what I hear. They're an Italian company."

"Have you been to Italy?" Celia asked, though her attention remain fixed upon the pin and feather.

Hanekoma shook his head. "Nah. I don't travel a whole lot. I came to see a friend of mine, but even finding the time for this trip wasn't easy. I own a café back at home, you see." He surveyed the coffee shop's interior speculatively. "I must have passed by a dozen of these stores this morning. Decided I had to stop by and see what they were like inside."

"Yeah, Starbucks has a lot of stores around here," Celia agreed absently. "They're all over the state. The country, really, but there's more here than anywhere else, I think."

"It's really something, isn't it?" Hanekoma said wistfully. "Say, you alright, Snowflake? You seem a little down."

"Snowflake?" Celia echoed, briefly puzzled, until she remembered the design of her Player pin. "Oh. I'm… I'm doing alright. It's been a rough week so far, that's all."

"Has it? Well, if it's something you want to talk about, lay it on me," Hanekoma invited kindly. "We café owners can be pretty good listeners. Comes with the job."

Celia gave Hanekoma an odd look, but strangely enough, she felt perfectly at ease around him. Still, she wasn't sure just how much she was comfortable sharing, or how much she would be allowed to say.

"Lately, I've been working on… a project," Celia began. "Something for a good friend of mine. For all of my friends, and for me, too, actually."

"It must be something pretty important," Hanekoma guessed.

"Very," Celia said, nodding. "But it's… it's hard. I knew it would be when I started, but every time I think about it, it seems harder and harder, until it's practically impossible."

"Well, maybe you're trying to do too much on your own," Hanekoma suggested.

Celia grimaced. "I wish I was on my own," she admitted. "But what I'm doing now isn't something I can do alone. I have a partner, but he and I don't get along, either. We had a bit of a disagreement in the past. I tried to let it go, hoping we could work together, but he doesn't seem ready to do the same. Sometimes, it feels like he hates me, and I'm not even really sure why."

Hanekoma frowned. "Sorry to hear it… that's rough," he said. "Ever think about changing partners?"

"I think it's too late for that," Celia admitted. "The worst part is, I want this to work out, more so than anything I've ever wanted before. You see, I did something that really hurt one of my friends. I didn't mean to do it, and I know he doesn't blame me for what happened, but I can't help but feel… I just need to finish this for him. To make things right again, for both of us."

"I see. This friend of yours must really mean a lot to you," Hanekoma said thoughtfully.

"He does," Celia said. "I know I can't give up now, but everything's just been falling apart, lately. Normally, when I'm not sure what to do, I tell myself to keep going, to just take one step forward in whichever direction feels right. Nothing feels right now, though. I feel more and more lost with every step I take."

"Hmm… I'm not sure if I can help you with that. I make coffee, not maps," Hanekoma said. "But if there's something else we café owners are good at, besides listening, it's offering unsolicited, nonspecific advice."

"Oh?" Celia asked.

"Listen up, Snowflake. The world ends with you," Hanekoma began. "If you want to enjoy life, expand your world. Maybe you're right, and what you're doing now truly is impossible… but if it really matters as much to you as you say it does, you're just going to have to push your horizons out as far as they'll go."

"What do you mean?" Celia asked.

"Think of your life as a story, to mold as you see fit," Hanekoma suggested. "If you aren't happy with the way it's headed, there's no reason to give up and follow it to its end. It doesn't matter what direction feels right. Pick one and go, and even if you never quite find the ending you're searching for, you're no worse off than you are right now."

"Just pick one and go…" Celia murmured.

"Warned you that it would be nonspecific advice," Hanekoma said. He tossed his head back and laughed. "Sit on it for a while, and maybe it'll do you some good. Anyways, I've got to run… but before I do, take this." He reached into one of his vest pockets and pulled out a pin, then slid it across the table to Celia. Curiously, the pin was entirely blank.

Celia shot Hanekoma a questioning look, unsure of what to say.

"You seem to be the creative sort. You'll know what to do with it," was the only explanation Hanekoma offered. "Nice talking with you, Snowflake."

As she watched Hanekoma leave, Celia couldn't help but wonder if there was something more to the unusual foreigner. She didn't understand why, but it just felt as if Hanekoma had known more than he had been letting on to. She didn't have long to ponder that feeling, though, for Blake joined her only a few seconds after Hanekoma departed.

"Here," Blake said, passing Celia her cup.

"Thanks," Celia said, accepting the cup and setting it aside.

"Quite the character," Blake mused, looking towards the coffee shop's doorway and watching as Hanekoma exited the store. "Snowflake, eh?"

Celia blushed. "You were listening in on us?" she demanded indignantly.

"Just to the last bit," Blake admitted. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I didn't want to interrupt you two, either. Sorry."

Celia looked up at Blake in surprise, for it was the first time she remembered hearing a genuine apology from him. "It's… it's alright," Celia said.

Blake nodded stiffly. "Hey, uh… there's something I wanted to ask you," he said hesitantly. "I've changed my mind. About this game, I mean. The Reapers' Game. I… I want to win."

Celia nodded. "Okay," she said.

"It's… I know you said… well…" Blake swallowed. "Look. If you're tired of playing, I get it. I won't blame you. We can stay here if you want, right up until the end. But if you're willing to follow me, I'll try to get us through the rest of the week."

"You'd rather do the missions on your own?" Celia asked coldly.

"No, that's not what I meant," Blake said quickly. "If you want to keep playing, too, we can work together. I just mean…"

Celia nodded, understanding. "Then we'll work together," she agreed. "I still want to win, too. I didn't really mean what I said earlier. Sorry for snapping at you like that."

Blake shook his head. "You don't need to apologize, C. Partners, then? For real, I mean."

Celia flinched. "Partners," she agreed. "But… could you please not call me that?"

"O-Oh. Yeah, sure," Blake said nervously. "What do you want me to call you, then? Snowflake?"

"Or just Celia. You know, my name," Celia said, smiling faintly. "Sorry… it's just… C is kind of a special nickname to me. It's what my mother used to call me when I was little. Even my father never used it."

"I see," Blake said thoughtfully. "Okay then. Celia it is. Are you ready to tackle today's mission?"

"Ready," Celia confirmed, taking out her phone.

Capture the three flags. You have 180 minutes. Fail, and face erasure.

- The Reapers

Celia looked down at the timer on her hand, which now read two and a half hours. "Three flags, huh?" she mused.

"If we can find the first one in half an hour, we'll be right on track," Blake said. "That's assuming we're the only ones working on it, too. I watched your friends set off this morning right when the mission arrived."

"Friends? You mean Graham and Jason?" Celia asked.

"Yeah, those two. I didn't talk with them, but since they survived yesterday's mission, I bet some of the other Players are still alive and kicking, too," Blake said. "Still, with how yesterday turned out, I'm not sure how much we can count on them. Let's get started."

"Let's," Celia agreed, and the two of them rose to leave.

As soon as she stepped out of the coffee shop, Celia knew something was wrong. Blake had disappeared upon crossing over the store's threshold, and did not reappear when Celia followed. What's more, the streets seemed eerily deserted.

"Shield me," Celia whispered, focusing on her stylus pin and imagining a protective sphere. Her stylus appeared and began swirling around her, leaving thick trails of ink that formed a translucent shell around her.

She had finished her spherical barrier just in time, for a quartet of Electro Finches promptly slammed straight into it, leaving a series of thin cracks. Reacting quickly, Celia sent her stylus into a series of horizontal and parallel lines. Just before her net was finished, the Noise managed to break through the shell.

Celia dove flat to the ground, and the Noise passed harmlessly overhead. But in her moment of distraction, her net wavered slightly. It completed itself mere seconds later than she had hoped, and when it swept past her, it caught only one of the four Noise.

The three remaining Noise dove again, leaving Celia without enough time to draw again. Instead, she sent her stylus straight at the approaching Noise, stabbing and slashing wildly in hopes of buying just a little bit of time. Streaks of color trailed behind it, exploding into colorful sparks, but the stylus moved too slowly to connect against the agile creatures.

Then, without warning, two of the Noise abruptly disappeared, granting Celia a mild reprieve. With one final thrust, she drove her remaining attacker away. Then, she began drawing once more. A cyclone took shape, capturing the last free Noise as it dove at her, then seizing the previously captured Noise as it escaped the entangling net. Both of the remaining birdlike creatures were left spinning uncontrollably until they, too, disappeared.

As soon as the last Noise had been erased, the street seemed to come alive once more. Celia found herself and Blake standing face to face with a thin, Vietnamese man. She was not surprised to see the spiky black wings adorning the Reaper's back.

"Not bad. After all the time you two spent hiding inside the café, I thought you'd be a bit weaker," the man said.

Blake stared at him incredulously. "Seriously? You've been standing out here this whole time waiting for us?" he groaned. "Don't you Reapers have anything better to do?"

"Not really. I am a Harrier, after all," the man answered. "Name's Trevor. Nice to meet you, though I doubt the feeling's mutual."

"A Harrier?" Celia asked, without offering him her own name.

"It means I hunt down Players like you for a living," Trevor clarified. "Quite literally."

"Why?" Celia asked, horrified.

"Do I look like a philosopher to you?" Trevor shrugged. "It's just the sort of world we live in. An eagle hunts rabbits, not to be cruel, but in order to survive. In the Underground, I'm that eagle, and the two of you had better start scurrying for your burrows."

"Very poetic," Blake remarked wryly. "But if you have to hunt Players to survive, why waste your time waiting for us?"

"A skilled hunter can afford to be picky about his prey," Trevor said, smiling wickedly. "You two just happen to have a delectable bounty on your heads."

"A bounty?" Celia asked, puzzled.

"That's right," Trevor nodded. "I've got nothing against you two, but the Conductor really wants you erased. So, no hard feelings, alright?"

"Oh yeah, none at all," Blake said sarcastically. "So, Trevor, how's this going to go down? Have you got the balls to face us yourself, or are you just going to fling Noise at us until we all die of old age? Or were you just planning to talk us to death?"

Trevor laughed. "Attacking you directly? Of course not. How would that be fair? I'm afraid I've already dispatched all of my Noise for the day, too," he said, shaking his head.

"So you're just here to waste our time," Blake grimaced. "Cute. Come on, Celia. Forget this clown."

"Not so fast," Trevor interrupted. "Those flags you're supposed to be hunting today? I happen to know where you can find one of them."

"Do you expect us to believe that?" Celia demanded.

"Hardly," Trevor snickered. "I expect you to look for yourselves. Over there, at the top of the Space Needle."

Celia and Blake exchanged uneasy glances, then glanced warily over at the nearby tower while keeping a close eye on the Reaper. A small, colorful flicker could be seen from above the famous building's saucer-like observation deck.

Blake glared at Trevor suspiciously. "First you claim you're here to erase us, now you're helping us with our mission. Just what sort of game are you playing?" he demanded.

"I did mention that I had already dispatched my Noise, didn't I?" Trevor explained slyly. "We'll call this Reaper Sport 3, King of the Hill. You take the flag, and the Noise will try to take it back. Erase them before they erase you. Fail and… well, you know the drill. Good luck!"

With one final laugh, the Reaper turned and walked away, his wings gradually fading from sight. Once he was gone, Celia and Blake turned their attention back to the Space Needle.

"So, we know it's a trap, but our only choice is to trip it anyways," Celia sighed.

"We could try to coax other Players into retrieving it for us," Blake suggested.

Celia shook her head immediately. "No way. We're not going to send other Players into harm's way just to keep ourselves safe, and we can't afford to waste our time looking for the other Players, anyways."

"I guess you're right. Since we know what's coming, we'd stand a better chance than the others," Blake agreed grudgingly. "But how are we supposed to get up there? Are we supposed to go inside and look for a staircase up to the roof?"

"Hmm… I think I can get us up there," Celia said thoughtfully. "Let's go a bit closer, first."

Ten minutes later, a large cloud drifted upwards alongside the Space Needle, invisible to those within the observation tower. A lush, verdant garden floated gently atop the cloud. Standing within the garden, Celia kept her eyes peeled for any sign of Noise.

Blake, on the other hand, was fully preoccupied with the garden. "Clouds don't work this way," he said sourly.

"This one does," Celia said in a miffed tone.

"Why a floating garden, anyways?" Blake asked. "Why not something more believable like a helicopter or something?"

"Do you know how to fly a helicopter?" Celia asked.

"No," Blake admitted.

"Neither do I," Celia said, before resuming her vigil.

Before long, the top of the tower came within sight. A plain red flag decorated with a silver snowflake matching their Player pins awaited them, but six strange black markings were floating nearby, forming a regular hexagon centered on the flag.

"Look," Celia murmured.

"Those look just like that sigil we saw yesterday, when that Reaper attacked us," Blake nodded. "Can you bring us right up to the flag?"

In answer, Celia looked down the side of her floating garden. Her stylus remained hard at work there, redrawing the lines that defined the cloud as they gradually faded, keeping them afloat. "I can," Celia admitted hesitantly. "But once I do, we'll have to fight off the Noise. I can't fight and keep the cloud up at the same time. Do you think we should hop down onto the tower's roof instead?"

Blake considered her suggestion briefly, then shook his head. "I'd rather not. At least this garden is relatively flat. What about the pin that crazy guy from the coffee shop gave you? Can you use that to fight instead?"

"The blank pin?" Celia asked.

"Oh," Blake said.

Celia reached into her pocket for her other pin, the one Hanekoma had called Lightning Rook. "I can try this one," Celia said. "But I don't know if I can keep my stylus drawing at the same time."

"Alright," Blake said. "This is what we'll do. Move us up to the middle so we can grab the flag, then move the cloud so that we're standing right above the tower. That way, if your garden unravels, we'll fall onto the tower instead of all the way down. In the meantime, don't fight unless you have to. Just focus on keeping the garden up as long as you can."

"Okay," Celia agreed, nodding. She looked down at her palm, and saw that her timer now read an hour and fifty minutes. "You ready?"

Blake took his pins in hand. "Ready when you are," he said.

Celia took a deep breath, then mentally prodded her cloud forward. As they gradually drifted towards the flag, she kept her eyes firmly fixed upon the Noise sigils, which remained thankfully dormant.

Before long, they were close enough to touch the flag. Bracing herself, Celia reached for the flag's brass pole.

The effect was immediate. As soon as Celia's hand closed around the pole, all six of the Noise sigils began to throb, glowing with an unnatural shaded light. They seemed to pulse with energy, sending forth black, oozing tendrils. The tendrils wove together as they pulled away from the sigils, coalescing into Noise.

Celia immediately recognized ten of the Noise as the Electro Finches she had battled before. The last Noise was dramatically larger than the bird-like Noise. Its dark red, serpentine body was nearly eight feet long. A pair of leathery wings were stretched between its forelimbs and its back, and its hind legs ended in gleaming, clawed talons. As she eyed the draconic creature, Michael's voice began echoing in her thoughts.

"Grunge Wyvern. A fearsome airborne Noise with powerful talons capable of tearing concrete and a mighty jaw that can crush through steel beams."

"Good to know," Celia said faintly, speaking to no one in particular.

The rest of the Noise scattered as the wyvern emitted a piercing, shrill screech. Then the dragon-like monstrosity barreled at Celia, fangs bared. The young artist leapt aside, and the wyvern crashed face-first into the soft grass meadow. The mighty Noise let out another screech, then angrily bit into the garden, tearing through grass and the stone bricks alike. Again, Celia dove for cover, and a large clump of dirt and stone soared past her and off the Space Needle to fall out of sight.

"Kill it quickly," Celia pleaded with Blake, though she knew he could not hear her. Experimentally, she tried reaching out to her partner mentally, and though she still felt the same murky presence that she had felt upon forging her pact with Blake, she received no other response.

The wyvern swooped again, tearing two long gouges in the garden as it flew past. Thankfully, despite its speed, the larger Noise was not nearly as maneuverable as the Electro Finches, and Celia had little trouble staying ahead of it.

Unfortunately, the smaller Noise didn't stay clear of the battle for long. The bird-like creatures began darting through the wyvern's wake, pecking at Celia as she desperately scrambled away from them. Several of them disappeared as they approached, but one managed to cut in front of Celia, tackling her hard.

With a pained cry, Celia stumbled and dropped backward to the ground. Then, sensing danger, she forced herself to roll to her side, tumbling towards the edge of the garden. She felt a rush of wind as the wyvern glided by, its jaw only inches away from her. Then the wyvern's heavy wing plowed into her, buffeting her painfully and pushing her further until she was on the verge of falling from the floating garden.

The powerful Noise banked hard, then prepared to charge again. With the flock of smaller Noise closing in as well, Celia knew she wouldn't be able to elude the Noise for much longer. She brandished her Lightning Rook pin at the wyvern, doing her best to concentrate on both it and her stylus.

Waves of forked lightning erupted from her palm, glowing electric blue and crackling loudly as it bore into the Grunge Wyvern and the two nearest Electro Finches. Both of the smaller Noise disintegrated instantaneously, while the wyvern reeled backward, twitching as the deadly current coursed through it.

At first, Celia thought to finish off the wyvern, but the sound of wings flapping behind her turned her around instead. Her second bolt arced outwards and caught the rest of the Electro Finches as they approached, neatly blasting them all out of the sky.

With the smaller Noise eradicated, Celia rounded upon the wyvern once more. The large Noise was nowhere to be seen, though, and in its place stood Blake, a pin clenched tightly in each of his fists.

"Damn, that sucker was tough," Blake groaned. He glanced over at Celia and frowned. "Where's the flag?"

When Celia notice that the flag was no longer in her hands, her heart skipped a beat. She looked around frantically, and to her relief, she spotted the flag lying on the grass a few feet behind Blake. "Right here," she said, walking over to retrieve the flag. "Sorry, I sort of lost track of it during the fight," she apologized sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it," Blake said absently, watching the Noise sigils carefully. This time, the unusual markings didn't react when Celia touched the flag, and remained dormant even as the garden drifted away from them and began descending back towards the ground below.

"One flag down, two to go," Celia said, stepping down from the floating garden. Even with her creation lying flat against the ground, the drop was a bit steeper than she anticipated, and she nearly lost her balance. As soon as she recovered, she glanced down at her palm. "And we still have an hour and a half. Where to next?"

Instead of hopping down as Celia had done, Blake gestured with one of his pins, vanishing for a second before reappearing safely on the ground. "I think we should lie low for a while," Blake said cautiously. "Remember what Trevor said?"

"About someone placing a bounty on us?" Celia asked, frowning. "I think he was just trying to scare us."

Blake shook his head slowly. "I don't think so," he said. "He wasted so much time making sure we'd be the ones who'd trip his little trap. He even warned us what was coming so that we wouldn't be scared to try it. For some reason, a small chance at erasing us was worth more to him than all the players he could have potentially erased."

"Maybe he was lying about needing to erase Players," Celia guessed with a shrug.

"Even if he's just commanding Noise and erasing Players for fun, he's still targeting us specifically for some reason," Blake pointed out. "I think he was telling the truth, and that the Conductor he mentioned really does want the two of us gone for some reason."

"Who's the Conductor?" Celia asked, frowning thoughtfully. She thought the title sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"No idea," Blake admitted. "Do you think it could be that blond fellow? Michael?"

"No, not Michael," Celia said right away. "He called himself something else yesterday, remember? The Producer, I think." Then, as she thought of Michael, she remembered the first time they had met with their mysterious guardian, and the other man Michael had been arguing with. "Wait a moment. Remember that crazy guy in black that was talking to us before Michael showed up? He called himself the Conductor, didn't he?"

"Crazy guy in black?" Blake echoed. Then his eyes went wide. "You mean that nutcase who no one could understand? The Japanese guy?"

"Yeah. The one who kept spouting nonsensical math terms," Celia said.

"Nonsensical. That's a good word for him."

Celia and Blake both turned to the speaker, an unfamiliar, formally-dressed middle-aged woman with the wings of a Reaper.

"Another Reaper. Just what we needed," Blake groaned. "Are you here to pick a fight with us, too? Like your buddy, Trevor?"

"Ah, you've met Nguyen, I see," the Reaper said sympathetically. "He's a real piece of work, isn't he? No, you two have nothing to fear from me. I'm a Support, not a Harrier."

"A Support?" Celia asked curiously.

"We give the Game structure, in accordance to the Game Master's orders," she explained. "Throw up a few walls, add a few non-lethal challenges here and there, pass along hints to the Player when needed, and all that jazz. My name's Selena."

"I'm Celia. It's nice to meet you, Selena," Celia greeted politely, relieved to learn that at least one of the Reapers wasn't trying to kill them.

"Why are you here, then, if you're not trying to erase us?" Blake demanded suspiciously.

"The Game Master is growing impatient," Selena replied. "Nguyen was supposed to place his flag and lead the nearest six Players to it within the first hour. Since he did not, the Game Master asked me to guide other Players to the flag instead."

"It's just like yesterday," Celia mused. "I guess the Game Master has a sense of fair play about all this, huh?"

"Unlike the Conductor, if he's sending his Reapers after specific Players," Blake grumbled.

"Is he?" Selena asked, surprised. "That's odd… I'm pretty sure he's not allowed to do that. I don't think the Game's outcome affects him in any way, either. He chooses the Reapers, but after that, the Game is supposed to belong wholly to the Game Master."

"You don't know why he's sending Harriers after us, then?" Celia asked.

"I don't. Sorry," Selena answered, shaking her head. "Truthfully, no one knows what's really going on in that man's head. But if it's any comfort to you, no one else should be coming after you today. Nguyen left all of his Noise around his flag, and Dolphus already used all his Noise defending his flag, too."

"That means the other Players should already have the second flag," Blake reasoned.

"Selena, you said that you were here to lead the other Players to Trevor's flag, right?" Celia asked. "Since Blake and I already retrieved it, do you think you could lead us to the nearest Players instead?"

Selena pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I suppose I could, but that seems almost too easy. Tell you what, if you two can catch me, I'll lead you to some of the other Players. I'll even point you all towards the last flag. Deal?"

Celia thought Selena's offer sounded too good to be true, but before she could say anything, Blake spoke up first. "Deal," he agreed almost immediately, before lunging for the Reaper with both arms outstretched.

Selena was too fast for him, though. With the slightest flicker of her wings, she fell back several steps, watching in amusement as the brown-haired teen tumbled helplessly to the ground. "Smooth," she remarked dryly. As Blake clambered back to his feet, the Reaper turned and began gliding away.

With an outraged cry, Blake charged after the escaping Reaper, leaving Celia with no choice but to chase after him.

"Blake, wait!" Celia gasped, panting for breath as she desperately tried to keep up with her partner.

"She's gaining on us!" Blake protested.

"You're not going to catch her like this," Celia insisted tiredly. "Look!"

Selena continued drifting just ahead of them, flying backwards so she could keep an eye on their progress. When their gazes met, the Reaper smiled and winked.

"She's just clowning around and wasting our time," Blake groaned. "Damn it!" He ground to a halt, allowing Celia to catch up at last.

A block ahead of them, Selena came to a stop, too, and eyed them curiously. "You aren't giving up, are you?" she called.

"Do you think we can split up and trap her between us?" Celia murmured.

Blake shook his head. "I don't think so. There's only two of us, and she'll see that coming from a mile away," he said. "Can you draw something that'll help us catch her?"

"Like a car?" Celia offered.

"Yeah, sure. Wait, no, not just any car. Make it something fast. A sports car, like a Ferrari or something," Blake instructed.

"Alright," Celia agreed hesitantly, afraid to admit she had no idea what distinguished one sports car from another. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the sportiest-looking car she had seen before, visualizing each of its sleek contours.

When she opened her eyes, she found the bright red vehicle in front of her, gleaming in the sunlight. Celia then glanced over at Selena, who seemed quite impressed. "Good enough?" she asked Blake.

Blake nodded wordlessly, then swung the passenger side door open.

"Wait! Aren't you driving?" Celia called.

Blake paused. "I can try," he said reluctantly. "But I've never driven before."

"You've never driven before?" Celia echoed incredulously. Her heart sank as she glanced again at Selena, who had resumed flying away from them. "Never mind, just get inside," Celia decided, climbing into the driver's seat. The car's engine then emitted a low and steady rumble, before suddenly coming to life.

"You know how to drive, don't you?" Blake asked nervously.

"Of course I do," Celia said irritably, deliberately not mentioning that this was her first time driving since moving for college. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she likely wouldn't be able to hit anyone, anyways, then stepped firmly on the gas.

Celia quickly found that her summoned car was every bit as clunky and uncomfortable as she had imagined. At least it was fast. Despite nearly losing control after each turn, and driving through almost every other vehicle on the road, they were quickly gaining on the fleeing Reaper.

"Celia…" Blake began to interrupt.

The car's front right tire struck the curb, jouncing them both violently. "Not right now," Celia snapped.

"But…"

"Not now!" Celia insisted, her attention focused solely on Selena, who was now less than fifty feet ahead of them.

As she began closing the rest of the gap between them and the Reaper, Celia began wondering what they'd do after catching up. That line of thought came to an abrupt end a second later, when the steering wheel suddenly became unsubstantial.

Celia realized her mistake immediately, but it was far too late to try to salvage the vehicle. Instead, she guided her stylus ahead of them, hoping to draw something in time to cushion their fall. The rest of the car seemed to become intangible, and Celia and Blake both screamed as a unpleasant, soaring sensation greeted them.

A soft surface broke their fall, but their forward momentum carried them tumbling across the padded mattress and down to the rough asphalt beyond.

"You alright?" Selena asked, taking Celia's hand and helping her to her feet.

"I… I think so," Celia said faintly.

"Good. My boss seems pretty reasonable so far, but I doubt he'll take kindly to hearing that I accidentally erased a couple of his Players," Selena shuddered. She then stepped over to Blake's side, offering him a hand as well.

Blake groaned, but made no move to rise.

"Up and at them, kid. You're still on the clock here," Selena urged, her voice quivering nervously. She knelt down by the teen's side and nudged his shoulder lightly.

As soon as he felt the Reaper's touch, Blake sat bolt upright. He caught Selena by the wrist as she tried to leap away. "Second time's the charm?" he grinned. "Where's those other players that you mentioned, Reaper?"

Selena rolled her eyes and turned to Celia. "Is he always this charming?" she asked sarcastically.

Celia only shrugged noncommittally.

"Well, a deal's a deal," Selena sighed. She gestured over Blake's shoulder, and both Celia and Blake turned to see two Players racing towards them.

"Laura! Vivian!" Celia called, recognizing the two women at once.

"Enjoy your little reunion," Selena offered. "When you're ready, the last flag is waiting for you down at the market. The Game Master placed that one there personally, though, so be on your guard."

"The market?" Celia asked, but when she turned to face Selena once more, she found that the Reaper had already disappeared amidst the bustling streets.

"Celia!" Laura called, reaching Celia and Blake at last. Her partner, Vivian, caught up a moment later, and seemed to be short on breath. Laura eyed Celia calculatingly, noting her disheveled clothing. "Was that Reaper harassing you and your partner?" she guessed.

Celia shook her head quickly. "No, Selena's alright, I think," she said. "She led us to you two, and even gave us a hint about where the last flag might be."

"Last flag?" Vivian asked, surprised.

"We've got one here," Blake said, holding up the red flag they had retrieved from the top of the Space Needle. "And that Reaper told us that another flag had already been found."

"Yeah, we were there," Laura nodded. "Vivian and I were searching for the flags along with several others. We found one that was just like yours, only blue, but the Noise guarding it erased four Players."

"How many of us are even left?" Blake frowned.

"Including you two, at least ten," Vivian replied. "Probably quite a lot more."

"Did you see Graham and Jason?" Celia asked, fearing the worst.

"Graham's the blond? The fairly good-looking college dude?" Laura asked. "He and his partner were with us this morning. They were the ones who finally got to the blue flag."

"They're pretty strong. I wouldn't worry too much about them," Vivian said comfortingly.

"Yeah, Vivian and I wouldn't have made it through that swarm of Noise yesterday without their help," Laura agreed. "Speaking of yesterday, Celia, were you and your partner the ones who completed yesterday's mission? We saw you two just before the Noise reached us."

"The Noise seemed endless, but then they disappeared all of a sudden. Our timers were gone, but so were you two, and two of the other Players, too," Vivian explained. "Laura and I were afraid the four of you had been erased, but Graham said you probably left to finish our mission."

"I think the Noise got the other two Players," Celia said. "I was going to come help you all with the Noise, but Blake convinced me that we should try to finish the mission instead."

"Really?" Laura asked, surprised. She turned to Blake. "Graham's partner, Jason, kept telling us you ran away."

"Of course he did," Blake said scathingly.

"Smart move, ending the mission like that," Vivian remarked. "There were so many Noise coming at us that we were afraid we'd run out of time before erasing them all."

Blake only shrugged indifferently.

Laura shot Blake an uncertain look, but seemed hopeful nonetheless. "Well, it sounds like things are working out between you two, after all," she said.

"I'd say so," Celia agreed, despite her own remaining misgivings regarding her partner. Then, remembering their mission, she looked down at the timer on her hand. "Fifty minutes left. We'd better get going," she said.

"Okay," Laura said. "Where to?"

"Selena mentioned a market," Celia said. "Do you think she meant Pike Place?"

"Probably," Vivian said. "That's really the only noteworthy market around here."

"That's nearly half an hour of walking away from here, though," Laura said worriedly.

"It'll be less than that for us, since we don't have to stop for traffic," Vivian pointed out. "But we'd better get going, anyways."

Celia briefly considered offering to draw another car, but changed her mind when she saw that her partner looked rather worse for the wear from their first crash. Instead, she only nodded and followed after Laura quietly, checking back periodically to ensure that Blake was still following.

When she spotted the familiar street of Seattle's most famous public market, lined with numerous colorful booths on both sides, Celia instinctively looked down at her palm again. Half an hour left.

"Another one?" Vivian exclaimed disbelievingly. "How does the hooligan behind this nonsense keep getting away with it?"

"Getting away with what?" Celia asked, looking up. She saw almost immediately what the older woman was talking about, though. An assortment of wood, metal, and plastic debris had been heaped neatly into a towering sculpture, fully twenty feet in height. It stood at the edge of the road, overlapping the curb, but oddly enough, none of the passing pedestrians took any note of it.

"These have been cropping up for a few weeks now," Laura murmured.

Celia approached the sculpture tentatively, inspecting it more carefully. Something about the sculpture seemed horribly wrong, but she couldn't quite place it at first.

"What is it, Celia?" Vivian asked, when she noticed the young artist's concerned expression.

"My friend and I were just talking about these the other day," Celia said absently. "One of them had just appeared in front of the Seattle Art Museum." On a hunch, she focused on her Player pin and the nearest pedestrians.

"That makes, what, a dozen of these now?" Laura said.

"This isn't right," Celia said, shaking her head. "The picture I saw showed the junk heap roped off, with tons of people crowding around it, but the people here haven't even noticed this one."

"Really?" Vivian asked, surprised. She reached for her Player pin, too, and began scanning the thoughts of the nearest people.

Meanwhile, Celia had finally noticed something else about the sculpture. "This isn't a new sculpture," she realized aloud. "Look. There's a broken piano in it."

"So what? Are you a pianist or something?" Blake asked, not quite understanding.

Celia shook her head. "This exact sculpture was in the paper a week ago. Or maybe two weeks, now. My friend, Karen, said she thought it was really odd that someone could smuggle a piano into Pike Place Market unnoticed."

"That is strange," Laura agreed. "Haven't the cops been clearing away the sculptures?"

"Definitely," Vivian said. "A couple weeks back, one of these appeared down the street from where I live. The police roped off the block in the morning, and by afternoon, trucks arrived to carry away all the garbage."

"But this one's still here in the Underground," Celia said. "Why?"

"Is it here to hide our flag?" Blake asked impatiently.

Celia scanned the pile carefully, searching for anything that looked like it could be a flag. "I don't think so," she finally said.

"Then forget about it. We have just over twenty minutes left," Blake reminded.

Celia nodded reluctantly and fell in line behind Blake as he began leading the way through the marketplace, Laura and Vivian following closely.

The first sign of the final flag came in the form of a deafening explosion. The ground shook, and when the four Players saw that none of the surrounding pedestrians of the Realground had noticed the tremors, they knew they were close.

"Over there," Blake called, gesturing towards the door that led to the indoors section of the marketplace.

Another explosion rang out as soon as they stepped aside, and then a third. Following the commotion, Celia and Blake pushed through the crowd, leaving Laura and Vivian behind. When they emerged, they had arrived in a rather isolated corner of the market.

Celia immediately spotted a green flag marked with a silver snowflake mounted upon the distant wall. The source of the explosions quickly became apparent, too, for a pair of Players neither Celia nor Blake recognized were already there, battling a pack of Noise that resembled icy-blue Trance Hounds.

Standing just beyond the pitched battle was a feminine, humanoid figure made of ice. She looked up at Celia and Blake as they approached, smiling coyly at them.

Celia stared at the mysterious figure in shock; the ice woman's elegantly-bound hair and delicate robes seemed intimately familiar, as did her piercing crystalline eyes and cool, confident expression and pose. Noise-like patterns reached all across the ice woman's slender frame, visible beneath her simple and rather revealing clothing.

"Interesting," Blake remarked. "That looks almost like…"

"Shiva, from Final Fantasy," Celia guessed.

Blake glanced at her in surprise. "You've played Final Fantasy?" he asked.

Celia shook her head. "No, but people ask me to draw characters from Final Fantasy all the time," she explained. "Shiva was one of the few that I really enjoyed drawing." She began concentrating on her pin, hoping to learn more about the unusual Noise.

"Glacies Canor. A Noise embodiment of ice itself, which has taken the shape of the legendary Ice Queen."

"Well, that's useful," Celia said helplessly.

"Fifteen minutes," Blake said, glancing at his timer. "I bet we'll have to get through her to get the last flag."

Celia looked over at the other two Players, who looked to be on the verge of defeating the hound Noises attacking them. "Let's do it," she agreed, stepping experimentally towards the frozen Noise.

In answer, Glacies simply gestured at them, and a glacier emerged from the ground. The block of ice shattered, leaving behind another pack of icy-blue Trance Hounds. The other Players and the Noise they were battling vanished, as did Blake.

The hounds growled, and prepared to pounce, but Celia struck first. Her stylus swirled before her, drawing a red circle, which became a molten, jagged sphere of rock. The meteor shot forward and exploded into a shower of fire, incinerating three of the Noise.

As the five remaining hounds scattered and sprinted around the flames, Celia sent forth a second meteor, striking down yet another hound. Two more hounds disappeared abruptly, and Celia dove aside to avoid the remaining two.

The two remaining Noise landed lightly on their feet and turned quickly, but Celia's stylus stabbed at them, buying her just a few more seconds to invoke her Lightning Rook pin. Her final attack proved unnecessary, though, for the remaining two hounds disappeared a split second before her conjured lightning struck home.

Blake reappeared beside Celia, as did the other two Players, who were now in battle with Glacies. But before either Celia or Blake could try for the flag, a swirling storm of sleet flowed out from the powerful Noise. The two Players battling her recoiled momentarily, then were frozen solid.

Then they were gone, and Glacies looked at Celia and Blake challengingly.

Celia shuddered, and involuntarily retreated a step. As she did, she noticed two more battles happening nearby: Laura and Vivian were battling a quartet of Noise to their left, and Graham and Jason, who had apparently caught up to them, were in the midst of finishing a final Trance Hound.

"Hey, Celia," Jason said, once he and Graham had dispatched their last opponent.

Graham acknowledged Celia and Blake with a nod, then continued inspecting the deadly ice Noise. "It looks like that Noise only challenges Players who survive her Noise onslaught," he guessed.

"She's all that's standing between us and the flag. Come on, Graham. Let's flatten her," Jason said.

Graham shook his head slowly. "Celia, Blake, you two got through the other Noise first. You ought to get the first shot against her, too," he offered.

"Why would we possibly want to do that?" Blake argued, but Graham had already backed away to a safe distance.

"Graham, are you sure?" Jason asked his partner uncomfortably.

"Positive," Graham nodded. "Go on, Celia."

Celia was as hesitant to challenge their remaining foe as Blake was, but with only ten minutes left, she knew they didn't have time to argue. "Are you ready, Blake?" she asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Blake grumbled, readying his pins. He punched one fist forward, summoning a magical lance, and Celia found herself standing alone once more.

Unsure of how best to attack her latest opponent, Celia decided to draw a third meteor. The fiery projectile homed in on the seemingly vulnerable Noise, but a thick sheet of ice materialized in front of it. The explosion shattered the frozen barrier, but left Glacies untouched.

Glacies repeated her earlier gesture, and a howling, freezing wind surged forth. Celia willed her stylus forward to intercept, leaving an icy-blue trail that became an exact copy of the barrier her opponent had used to deflect her meteor. Once the fierce gale softened, Celia countered with Lightning Rook, shattering her own shield with a sizzling bolt of lightning. The bolt forked wildly, playing out all over the Noise's seemingly-delicate form.

But the Noise rallied gamely and summoned a shard of ice to her side with a casual wave. It remained still for a second, suspended in midair, before darting forth.

Thinking to melt the freezing projectile while it was in the air, Celia sent her stylus sweeping before her, conjuring a sheet of flames. The partially-melted projectile pierced through the flames, slamming into Celia painfully as she instinctively shielded her face with her arms. She shrieked and stumbled backward, and in her moment of distraction, she nearly missed Glacies readying another sleet-laced gust.

Knowing that she didn't have time to draw another barrier, Celia dove aside again, firing off another bolt of lightning to slow her attacker. Her psych hit its mark, causing the Noise to flinch, and the freezing storm came to an abrupt halt.

Celia quickly pulled herself back to her feet and fired again, sending her opponent reeling. At the same time, she called her stylus back to her side. The stylus traced a small red oval, before outlining it with a jagged blue line. A large egg coated in shimmering sapphire flames appeared, falling into Celia's waiting hands. She lobbed it forward, and though her aim was off and the egg fell about a foot short, it exploded upon impact with the ground.

Waves of searing flames rushed outwards, and a handful of flickering orange strands danced upwards tantalizingly. Celia sent her stylus plunging upwards into the rogue flames, latching onto them and weaving them like a needle with thread. They formed into a fiery bird, which promptly descended upon the Noise with a tumultuous crash.

Celia stared into the burning haze nervously; when the others in the marketplace hadn't reappeared, she knew the battle wasn't quite over, but could only hope that she had at least injured the Noise. The flames gradually cleared, revealing that the powerful Noise had been shaken, but remained very much intact.

Groaning in dismay, Celia looked down at her hand, only to find that her timer had disappeared. "What?" she gasped aloud, her mind racing furiously.

She didn't have much time to consider the implications of her missing timer, though. Glacies thrust both of her arms forward, unleashing a beam of swirling, freezing mist to strike Celia in the chest, chilling her to the bone.

Celia tried to counter again with Lightning Rook, but her arms had gone numb, and the ensuing spray of lightning missed by several feet. She changed tacks quickly, reaching out for her stylus instead. As another punishing beam slammed into her, knocking her off her feet, her stylus drew a long, jagged crease across the ground at the Noise's feet.

A gaping chasm appeared, and an expression of shock flickered briefly across the Noise's serene face. Then Glacies plummeted into the ravine and out of sight.

When Blake and the others reappeared at Celia's side, she breathed out a long sigh of relief. "I can't believe that worked," she admitted.

Blake looked similarly winded. "I'm glad it did, whatever 'it' is," he said, relieved.

"Me too," Celia agreed. Then, with a horrible jolt, she remembered her missing timer. Her heart sank when she saw that her palm was still free of the silver markings. "But we ran out of time," she said, her voice quivering. "What happens now?"

"We didn't run out of time," Graham said, turning her around. The tall blond stood there, holding a flag in each hand, one blue, one green.

"Once you started fighting that Noise, we saw that she wouldn't be able to keep us from retrieving the flag and finishing the mission," Jason explained.

"We tried to tell you and Blake to run, but you couldn't hear us," Graham added. "That was a neat trick, though, dropping the Noise into the earth like that.

Celia nodded, pleased to hear that they had, by all appearances, survived another day.

Blake, in contrast, was nearly beside himself with rage. "You set us up!" he accused loudly, drawing his pin.

"What? I didn't…" Graham began to protest.

"All that bullshit about letting us take the first shot was just so we'd get that Noise out of the way for you," Blake fumed. "You two-faced, lying bastard!"

"Hey, watch it!" Jason barked.

"Blake, that's not what happened," Graham insisted, remaining calm. "I just saw an opportunity to end the mission, and took it. Isn't that what you and Celia did yesterday when you ran off?"

"Ran off?" Blake sputtered indignantly. "We didn't run off. We were just the only ones smart enough to see that the Noise were just a huge waste of time. If we fought the Noise there with you, we would have all failed the mission!"

"I know," Graham acknowledged. "We're all on the same side here, Blake. What matters is that we get the missions done with. I wasn't trying to throw anyone under the bus back there. I was only thinking that if you two could erase the Noise hounds faster than we could, you could erase their master more quickly, too."

"Oh, sure you were," Blake said sarcastically. He rounded on Celia. "Celia, you aren't buying this crap, are you?"

Celia hesitated. She wasn't any happier than Blake about being made into a decoy, but at the same time, it truly seemed to be an honest mistake, and an innocuous one, at that. "What matters is that the mission is over with, right?" she asked in a conciliatory tone.

Blake rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, gritting his teeth in frustration. Then, as if he could not stand Graham's presence any longer, he turned and stormed away.

"He has a bit of an anger management issue, doesn't he?" Laura commented quietly, glancing sympathetically at Celia.

"A bit?" Jason echoed derisively, shaking his head. "The kid's a straight-up psychopath."

"He's might just be stressed out. Can you really blame him, given the circumstances?" Vivian suggested kindly. "This game's driving us all mad. I know I'm halfway to breaking myself."

"That jackass was broken even before he died," Jason fumed.

"I think I had best go after him, anyways," Celia said worriedly. "If we run into any more Noise before the day ends, I won't be able to fight them off alone."

"We can keep you safe," Graham offered.

Celia shook her head. "Thanks, Graham, but I can't let him get erased either, remember?"

"Oh, right. Of course," Graham said. "Good luck, then."

"Thanks," Celia said again, before running after her wayward partner.

Just when Celia was beginning to wonder if Blake had turned and gone a different direction, she spotted him sitting at the base of the bizarre junk pile sculpture they had passed by earlier. "Hey, Blake," she called.

Blake looked up and frowned. "What are you doing here? I thought you wanted to stay and talk with your friends," he said.

"We're partners, aren't we?" Celia reminded. "We need to stick together, in case the Reapers come calling again. Though, honestly, we should try to stay with the others, too. Safety in numbers, you know?"

"You're too trusting," Blake grimaced.

"You don't really think Graham was trying to put us in danger, do you?" Celia asked unhappily.

"He and his partner are supposed to be really strong. His partner was raring to go, too, only Graham held him back. Don't you think that's a bit strange?" Blake pointed out. "Why would he possibly think we'd care about who got the first chance to erase that Noise?"

"Maybe he's more like Jason than he pretends," Celia suggested. "They were friends before they died, weren't they? Jason's always eager to act. Maybe he's the same way himself, and assumed we were like that, too."

"That's a bit of a stretch, but fine. What about yesterday?" Blake asked.

"What about yesterday?" Celia asked, puzzled.

"When we were trying to solve that riddle, I mentioned that we might have to play against other Players. Graham looked quite sure that I was wrong," Blake said.

"Well, you were wrong," Celia said, not understanding Blake's point.

"I was," Blake admitted. "But how did he know that? And how did he and Jason know about the rules prohibiting Reapers from attacking Players and vice versa? Or about the limits on how much Noise the Reapers can use?"

"One of the Reapers probably told them," Celia suggested reasonably. But even as she spoke, she remembered her first encounter with Graham, and how he seemed to be fully aware of what was going on.

"What is it?" Blake asked, noticing the change in her expression.

"Back when we were in that office, Graham already knew about the Reapers' Game," Celia realized aloud. "When I asked him where we were, he promised to explain everything if we got 'that clown again'. Again, he said. He already knew about the Game, and he had already met the Conductor, too."

Blake blanched. "Are… are you sure?" he asked.

Celia nodded numbly. "I'm positive," she said.

"That cinches it, then," Blake said grimly. "Graham's definitely up to something, and his partner's probably in on it, too. I bet you they're both Reapers."

"You think they're Reapers?" Celia asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Sure. How else would they know so much about the Game?" Blake asked. "You've got to admit, it's pretty suspicious. Face it: until we know exactly what the Reapers are, and what they are and aren't allowed to do, we can't rule out the possibility that some of them are right beside us pretending to be Players."

As much as she wanted to, Celia found that she couldn't refute her partner's reasoning. Then, an even more alarming possibility occurred to her. "You're right. It is pretty suspicious," she agreed with Blake carefully. "But they weren't the only ones acting strangely today."

Blake gave her a confused look, but her pointed stare got the point across. "You think I'm a Reaper?" he asked, shocked.

"Not really," Celia admitted. "I'm not even really sure what a Reaper is. Maybe I should be worried about Graham and Jake, but right now, I'm more worried about you. Two days ago, you were blaming me for both of our deaths, and you spent most of yesterday sulking and telling me how stupid I was."

Blake shifted uncomfortably, averting her gaze.

"You've been acting totally different today," Celia went on. "I'm not really complaining… but I need to know, Blake. Why the sudden change in heart?"

Blake didn't respond for several seconds. When he finally spoke, he did so in barely more than a whisper. "I hated you," he admitted.

Celia winced. "I… I know. You made that pretty clear," she said.

Blake shook his head. "I don't even really know why. I was just so angry with you. I tried to forget about it – I did forget about it, at least for a while, anyways – but then I woke up that morning, and it all came back to me… and I… I just…" he said, struggling for the right words.

"You killed me," Celia said evenly.

"I did," Blake admitted. "And got myself killed in the process, too. Then I woke up in that room along with everyone else. I saw you there, and knew what I did to you… and I wanted…" He swallowed. "I wanted it to be your fault. I blamed you for pissing me off in the first place, for being there in the same place where I could find you again. I blamed your friend for shooting me, hell, I even wanted to blame that girl that was with you for… anything. I was ready to blame it all on just about anyone, just so that I wouldn't have to believe how badly I screwed up."

Celia found herself at a complete loss for words. She was angrier than ever with her partner, for killing her, for all of his cruel and hurtful words, and for constantly dismissing her ever since the Game began. She wanted to scream at him, to take out her frustration on someone who most certainly deserved the brunt of it, yet it all seemed entirely pointless.

"You had every reason to hate me right back, but you didn't," Blake went on dully. "You found me, and instead of leaving me to die and finding yourself a different partner, you partnered with me, your murderer, saving me. That just made it feel worse, somehow, so I took it out on you, saying all those horrible things… but you never once argued. You just turned into a complete doormat, apologizing for things that weren't your fault to begin with and trying to make everything work out. I wanted to keep hating you, but I... I couldn't."

"That's why you haven't been an ass to me all day today?" Celia asked incredulously. "You have to be kidding me. Why were you so determined to believe that you didn't do anything wrong?" she demanded angrily.

"Because everything's always my fault!" Blake cried, spinning to face her with tears of frustration in his eyes. "You don't get it, do you? You have no idea what it's like to always be wrong. You have everything – looks, talent, friends, family…"

"You don't know anything about me," Celia interrupted him stiffly.

"I know that there are people out there who cared about you," Blake retorted. "Didn't you wonder why there was only one memorial where we died? My folks are probably still too drunk from celebrating, that's why. I've been a screw-up forever, long before we ever met. Maybe my folks thought I would someday change, or maybe they were only putting up with me because no one else would, but they were running out of patience with me, too."

"I see. And you never once thought to do something reasonable about it? You decided it was better to lie to yourself and everyone else?" Celia asked coldly. "Fine, but that still doesn't answer my question. Why turn over a new leaf now?"

Blake looked away again, unwilling to meet Celia's angry glower. "I was listening in yesterday, when your friend was talking to you by the memorial," he admitted guiltily. "I was already finding it hard to stay angry with you. Then he came along, and at first, I thought I could just be mad at him instead. And then I saw how hurt he was – how hurt both of you were – and still, he didn't blame me at all. He blamed himself for being unable to save you instead, and even felt guilty for killing me."

"What's your point?" Celia demanded testily.

Blake took a deep breath. "My point is that this is all my fault," he said. "I know that now. I killed you. I got myself killed. I took you away from your friends and family. I'm the reason we're both stuck here in this hellish game. I screwed up, badly, but I also lucked out; the Reapers' Game is supposed to be a second chance for all of us Players, but it's something more than that for me. This is my chance to do something… maybe not something right, but something less wrong, at least."

Blake hopped to his feet, briefly dusting off his jeans. Then he forced himself to look his partner in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, Celia," Blake apologized sincerely. "I know my words probably don't mean a whole lot to you at this point, but I owe you an apology anyways. An apology, and also a promise: I'll do anything and everything I can to get you through this game and back to the life I took from you."

Is this what you're searching for?

Are you scared to know the truth?

Now, open your eyes,

Put yourself together…

Author's Note:

Lyrics taken from Transformation.