Tony: -walks in dragging Kairi by the ear-

Kairi: I'm sorry, okay!

Tony: -drops onto floor before turning to readers- Apologies for that. I hadn't planned on posting this until May, purely because I know how far behind I can get on updates. Anyway, we're back to every other Monday for updates, unless I get five reviews in the week after I post a chapter, and then you get a chapter after only one week. On a totally different note... Welcome back! And now, enjoy the chapter. Guest review responses at the bottom again.

Kairi: And he doesn't own Tales of the Abyss either!

Chapter II

One Last Breath

"Do I even want to know where you're off to now?"

Sirris cringed. "For once… Wait, no, that's not right," she stopped herself. "As usual… it's none of your business."

Jade sighed and adjust his glasses. "I was just being curious… And trying to figure out how long you'd be gone…" he admitted. Sirris stuck her thumbs through her belt loops (since neither the skirt nor the shorts she was wearing underneath had pockets) and gave him a look.

"What are you up to this time?" she asked, using the exact same tone of voice Jade had only a moment ago when asking her. Whether she did this intentionally or not, neither or them knew, nor even realized that it had happened.

Jade shrugged. "Oh, nothing," he replied innocently.

Too innocently, Sirris thought, crossing her arms.

"Is that so?" she asked. "Just like I'm off to nowhere," she added, again in the same innocent tone Jade had used, though this time it was on purpose. Jade slipped his hands into his pockets and looked off in a different direction, an action he'd picked up from Luke. Sirris easily translated it as 'I'm not telling you if you don't tell me.'

It was a rather annoying habit of Luke's that she was quite easily frustrated with.

When Jade did it though… Well, that was a slightly different story.

"I'm heading out to see a few old friends. Engeve, Chesedonia, Baticul, Keterburg, then back here," she told him. Jade's curious look told her his next question before he could ask it. "Not Nephry."

Jade nodded. "I've been working on a new project. Now, I'm not going to tell you what exactly, because then it won't be a surprise, however…" he trailed off. Sirris was caught somewhere between 'Uh-oh' and 'Hmm'.

"I'm not sure if I should be happy that you've got something else to occupy your mind now, or worried that it's supposed to be a surprise," Sirris informed him. Jade chuckled and walked away, and Sirris decided that she would be better off leaving it alone as she, like Jade, departed.

Sirris took off running the moment she was out of Grand Chokmah, not even bothering to talk to a guard she had (somehow) managed to befriend on her way through Theor Forest.

Sirris was panting slightly when she made it to Engeve that night. She was mentally berating herself as she did so for letting herself get out of shape.

"Someone's had some down time."

Sirris looked up and grinned at the redhead in front of her. He was about her height, with bright blue eyes that shone with a kind of wisdom beyond his years.

"Hey, Soren."

Luke smiled at Noelle as she ran up to him. "Hey, Noelle."

"Hi… Luke, right?" she replied. He nodded, and Noelle giggled. "Yeah, I figured. Asch took the Albiore III, and I haven't seen it since Ginji left with the Dark Wings."

Luke chuckled. "I figured. Hey, any chance you could take me to Yulia City? I'm looking into a few things, and Sirris gave me some time off, so I might as well visit a few friends while I'm at it, right?" he asked. Noelle smiled.

"Of course! Just meet me in the hangar bay once you're ready," she replied before turning and taking off.

"Straight off to Yulia City then?" Mieu asked. Luke shook his head, however.

"No, I want to check in on that cheagle first. I doubt Aston's had a chance to take it back to the Cheagle Woods," he answered. Mieu bounced over to the meeting hall doors happily and the two stepped in.

"Ah, Asch! Wait, no… you're Luke," Aston greeted them. Luke nodded.

"Yup. Did you need Asch for something?" he asked. Aston shrugged.

"He sent a letter about a week ago asking about the Tartarus," he said. "With the Planet Storm getting stronger…" Aston trailed off. Luke nodded worriedly.

"I know. If we don't stop the sudden increase, the Tartarus will break apart and it won't silence the core anymore," he finished. "I've been looking into it myself. Van's sword has been taken from the Absorption Gate too," he added. Then, after thinking for a while, Luke stuck his hands in his pockets and looked over at Mieu, who was talking to the yellow cheagle, before looking back at Aston. "Hey, any chance Asch told you what mess I'd made that he'd have to clean up?" he asked.

Aston shook his head. "Not that I know of," he answered. Luke sighed.

"Oh well. Guess I'll just have to track him down and ask him," he muttered. He looked back at Mieu. "Coming?" he asked as he headed for the door.

"Mieu! Yes sir!" came the enthusiastic but high-pitched response. A few meius later, and the little blue cheagle was bouncing along after Luke.

Noelle was waiting on board the Albiore II, and once Luke was strapped in, she took off. Luke pulled out the letters once they were in the air and pulled Noir's out, wondering if she had expanded on what Asch was doing.

Dear Luke,

Asch is commandeering our help. With what, he hasn't told us yet, but I'll try to send you word once we've figured it out. And what on earth is Sirris doing? I've sent her three letters in the last month and she hasn't responded to a single one of them!

Do stay out of trouble, won't you? Asch is cut from a similar cloth as Sirris, and she always started ranting whenever you (or Jade, for that matter) did something stupid. It's not exactly fair when she starts taking it out on us.

See you later,

Noir and the Dark Wings

Luke smiled slightly.

"Mieu… That's not fair…" Mieu whined. Luke chuckled.

"Don't worry, Mieu. I doubt Asch is going to be that bad," he replied. Then he fished Ellie's letter out. However, as he did so, a blue envelope fell out of his bag. He raised an eyebrow. "Okay. That wasn't there earlier."

Mieu picked it up and handed it to him, and he took it and looked at the front. It was blank. Overcome with curiosity, he opened it, Ellie's letter temporarily forgotten.

Luke skimmed over the letter quickly and quietly. The words 'replica' and 'daughter' jumped out at him, while the names 'Jade' and 'Roran' raised an eyebrow. Before he could reach the end of the letter, Luke was forced to go back to the beginning to actually read it.

To Whom It May Concern:

You are reading this because Emperor Peony trusts you with this knowledge and feels that you need to know.

First, to Jade- I'm sorry. I should have told you from the very beginning, maybe even before I revealed my pregnancy. I was not who you thought I was, not then, not ever. Risa was sick, close to dying, and Roran was desperate. Dist was looking for another test subject. I was only ever a replica…

I shouldn't have expected you to take me in. I didn't deserve that in the least, not when I'm just a replica, just a fake, and especially not after what I did to you. But our child is innocent. If you won't take me in, then at least protect them.

Second, to Nephry- Thank you for all you've done, and please, if your brother won't, protect the child I carry. I cannot trust my original's brother to care for the baby. You're the sister that I wish I could have, the sibling Risa needed.

Third, to whomever my child falls in love with- Don't you dare break their heart. This child is all I have, and even though I'll never get to know them, I love them with all of my heart, and I expect you to do the same. This child wasn't created out of love, but I love them all the same, and they will need that love so badly. The world is a cold place, and once I'm gone, it will become even colder. You have to be the warmth to keep my child alive.

Fourth, to anyone who becomes a true friend to my child- Stand by them, support them, and above all, do not let them fall into the dark abyss of depression. There always has to be a way out, no matter the problem at hand.

To all of you, I apologize. I cannot care for my child as I wish I could. Even as I write this, my fonons are separating. I will barely be able to birth the child before I am gone. So I must rely on all of you who read this to take care of the child.

And especially to you, my darling child, whether you are Sirris or Larsa, I am so very sorry that you will never know your mother.

With all of my love and hope,

Risa's Replica

Luke had to reread the letter repeatedly before it all finally sank in.

"Master, what's wrong?" Mieu asked, jumping up into Luke's lap. The redhead shook his head, still slightly in shock as he carefully folded the letter back up and slipped it into his bag.

"It's nothing, Mieu," he said quietly, lost in his thoughts.

Ellie's letter had been completely forgotten.

Ysenri stopped as the world started spinning. She heard Ion's voice, but it seemed far away and muffled, as if she were under water. She knew what it meant, so it didn't surprise her in the least when her vision went black temporarily before clearing.

Vlad needed to talk.

Ysenri sighed as her vision cleared, revealing a path through a forest that, upon first glance, looked identical. However, a second look was all that was necessary to figure out that it was not, as originally believed, the same. Where there was a clump of flowers on one side of the path, there was a large tree, and where the path should have cut sharply left, then right again, in order to avoid a boulder, this path was straight.

And, of course, there was a boy who looked like Ion. Except, this boy's hair was black, not brown, and he looked bored out of his mind. And there was also a man with silver-streaked black hair standing behind her.

"Hello, Ysenri," the man greeted her. She nodded.

"Hello, Vladimir. Can I help you?" she replied. He crossed his arms.

"That depends," he started. Then, after a short explanation, Ysenri sighed.

"I won't be a lot of help there, then. But… Go find Vitawny. I'm sure once she figures it out, she'll be able to help," she said. Vladimir sighed and shrugged.

"Oh well. It was worth a shot trying, right?" he said before turning and walking away. Ysenri turned to see that there was now another boy standing beside the Ion look-alike. His white hair trailed down his back, while crimson eyes seemed to glare at anything they saw.

"So, leaving again right away, huh?" he asked. Ysenri nodded.

"Yup. Sorry, Shiroi. But I've got a treasure hunt to get back to," she replied before reaching into the back of her mind. She could feel Nyra's consciousness, and that was what she was after.

The moment their consciousnesses touched, the world started spinning again, fading to black and then clearing. Once again, a moment of slight (very slight, as they were getting quite used to this) disorientation overtook the two as they separated again.

Ysenri smiled at Ion. "Weren't we going somewhere?" she asked. Ion chuckled and continued down the path, taking the corner around the boulder before taking off at a jog. Ysenri sighed and ran after him, glad that the clothes Nyra wore were more appropriate for this sort of thing than the dress her other was currently stuck in.

The two had just made it out of what Cloud jokingly referred to as Dark Passage due to the number of monsters when Ion stopped and ducked under a tree. Ysenri followed him and looked up, just in time to see a large, dark shape sail through the sky above them.

"There's a Guardian onboard," Ion stated quietly. Ysenri nodded.

"I know, I felt it. Wind, if I'm correct," she replied. Ion took a deep breath.

"Not Leon then," he said. The silver-blonde girl nodded and Ion shook his head. "Come on. Arashi and Ellie are in St. Binah. That's where we're headed."

Ysenri sighed. "Any chance we could stop in Chesedonia, or is that too out of our way?" she asked. Ion raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me you're tired already," he joked. Ysenri smiled.

"No. But… I'm just getting this feeling…" she answered. Ion shrugged.

"Why not? It's not like we have to meet up with them. I just thought it'd be nice of us to inform them that we're helping," he told her. The pink-eyed girl giggled and took off at a run through Tataroo Valley, Ion on her heels. As they approached the Sephiroth, however, a group of monsters came at them.

Two short flashes of light shone around Ysenri's arms as curved blades seemingly grew out of them. She dashed forward and made as if to punch the nearest monster, hitting it not with her fist, but with the blade on her arm.

A silver-green disk flew past her, slashing through two monsters before returning to Ion as he stood there casting. Ysenri managed to kill a monster before Ion's Flare Tornado landed on top of another. Ion then ran past her, spinning his chakrams around to attack. As she slashed through and killed the fourth monster, Ion jumped back, tossing both chakrams at the last one as he muttered 'leviathan' under his breath.

The chakrams not only slashed through the monster, but they delivered something similar to Splash to it on their way back, killing it.

Ysenri's weapons disappeared the way they had come, while Ion slipped his chakrams onto his back.

"Well, that was fun," the brunette commented. Ysenri sighed.

"I'd have had more fun if they had actually put up a fight," she admitted. He rolled his eyes.

"Wah, wah. You're whinier than normal today," he grumbled. Ysenri just smiled.

"Just remember, you have to sleep sometime."

Some time later, as the sun, which had been high in the sky, began sinking, the duo reached the edges of the valley. Ion crossed his arms.

"There's no way we'll make it to Chesedonia before dark, and I'd rather not try to travel blind, since the moon won't be out tonight. Let's stay the night here instead of risking it closer to town," he suggested. Ysenri nodded.

"Okay. I've got something I want to do on the other side, anyway," she replied before closing her eyes. When she opened them, they were lavender once more.

"Okay… Now what?" Nyra asked. Ion opened his mouth as he pulled his bag off of his back, but he simply pointed as he dropped it on the ground. Nyra turned and sighed as a small group of annoyingly large bees attacked. She pulled a paintbrush out of her pocket and started to paint seemingly in midair. Once she was happy with the result, she pointed at a monster with her left hand, the one not holding her brush, and a Flame Burst landed on it as the 'painting' disappeared.

Ion had to smile as he tossed one of his chakrams at a monster. Nyra and Ysenri were very good at confusing people who didn't know them when they were on the battlefield. 'You would think,' he had mused to himself once, 'that since Nyra is colder and Ysenri is so gentle, that Nyra would be the one slashing through her opponents while Ysenri stood back to cast. Guess it just goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover.'

The two of them finished the monsters quickly, and Nyra slipped the paintbrush back into her pocket. "You know, I'm glad Ysenri finally got around to buying a proper paintbrush for me. It was a pain trying to do that with my finger. Both literally and figuratively," she said. Ion chuckled and sat down next to his bag on the ground.

"I'd say 'I can imagine', except I can't, so I'll just shut up now," he replied. Nyra smirked.

"Oh really now?" she teased. Then she looked around. "Are we going to build a fire?" she wondered. Ion sighed.

"And here I was just getting comfortable…"

Silver eyes glared at the dark, scar-like mark. A figure crouched in the snow, white hair only a few shades whiter than their abnormally pale skin. White pants and coat did nothing to make this figure any more visible in the snow.

As the wind swept long white hair away, a white mark as pale as the figure's hair was revealed for a moment on their neck, a simple 01.

"You sure picked a place to hide out."

The figure whirled around. Standing in a nook not far away was a tall man. His straw-colored hair was tied into a ponytail, while cobalt eyes stayed locked on the white figure. A brown coat flapped in the wind as he walked over, only to be pulled back as the white figure pulled him away from the dark crevice he had been watching.

"Are you insane? You'll get us both caught!" the figure spoke, voice revealing it to be male. His taller companion sighed.

"Well excuse me if I don't blend into the environment, Snow," he grumbled. Snow crossed his arms.

"You don't need to baby-sit me, Phoebus. I'm not a kid anymore… That, and I'm technically older than you," he replied. Phoebus sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, brushing his hair away from his neck just long enough to reveal a dark brown marking, similar to Snow's, save for that this one was 04, rather than 01.

"You're still acting immature," Phoebus replied. "Besides, I'm only here to tell you to keep an eye out for Nine. He's gone and wandered off again."

Snow sighed. "Okay, okay, message received. Now go away! I'm stalking someone! …Well, sort of," he replied. Phoebus chuckled.

"You never change, do you?" he commented before walking off. Snow slipped back down to where he had been crouched in the snow before and sat there, as if waiting for something to happen.

"-doesn't…anyone but himself," a woman's voice reached him. He glanced over the ridge and smirked. The woman's hair almost blended into the snow, but the light green highlights would have given her away, even if she hadn't been wearing black and dark red.

Her companions, likewise, did a poor job of blending in. One's silvery hair was streaked with blue and his black coat flapped around in the winds, while the other's green hair and black clothes made him stand out like a sore thumb.

"He was a useful ally though. If I'd realized he'd been pulled down there by Van, I'd have gone after him too," the taller of the males said, brushing his light hair out of his face, only for the wind to toss it into place again. They looked down at the boy, who had a thoughtful look on his face.

"I never saw Van or Roran, but if they fell in at the Absorption Gate, that could be why, since I should have been somewhere near where Akzeriuth used to be. There was someone else down there, though…" he told them. The woman crossed her arms.

"Who?"

The green-haired boy shrugged. "She said she didn't have a name. I called her Antira, but…" he trailed off. The woman rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Let's just get going instead of standing around here talking," she grumbled. The two males nodded and followed her away, down the mountain.

Slowly and carefully, Snow stood and headed down to the crevice they had emerged out of. A door was set into the rock near the back, and a smirk slipped across his lips when he found it unlocked. It was a matter of little importance to get inside and start looking around. He figured he didn't have long, but he didn't need long.

The underground base seemed rather normal, but there was one thing that had him confused. In one room, where three beds sat around the walls, a large, circular table stood in the middle. A map was pinned to it, and it was covered in colored pins. After a moment of looking at it, Snow nodded and headed back out.

Once he was a decent way down the mountain, he crossed his arms and slipped into a small alcove to think. His mind, however, could only find one thing to explain the map, and he sighed as he muttered it out loud.

"She's planning to take over the world."

Tony: So, yeah. We're still in 'introducing the characters' mode. It'll only last another couple of chapters before we actually get into the plot. Also, there should only be a couple sections that are first-person POV in Bloody Heirloom, due to an event that will happen some time around... Chapter seven? Maybe? (I had to stop and completely rewrite the whole story because I made two major mistakes. Both are now fixed, except I am really far behind now.)

Kairi: Anyways... Review responses?

Tony: Yup.

(huntergorh)- Thank you. Bloody Heirloom's starting out kinda slow, but she'll pick up speed fast once we get a little further in.

(Leomitch)- Hey! Nice to see you again! Don't worry, you've got two weeks to review, and even if you don't, at least I know you won't abandon me! Anyways, expect to pop up randomly whenever the group is near Grand Chokmah. Also, I think you're at 5 of 10... well, 5 of 9, since you can't kill Bastion. At any rate, it's great to see you guys again and I am going to shut up before I start rambling to you three.

Tony: So... Like I said before, see you guys in two weeks, unless I get five reviews before next Monday, and then you get an early update.