...I'm alive?

And this story has been sitting on my computer collecting dust since before I... er... vanished off the face of the earth. And no, Kairi does not yet know I'm back online... Nor do Tea or Daniel. I'm keeping it that way as long as I can before hell descends on my head for disappearing for a year and a half.

Leon: You're doomed.

Me: Tell me something I don't know... Oh well. This is literally all I have written. And since I started writing Bloody Nightshade three years ago and a lot has changed since then, much of which I probably don't know about (yeah, I've already been poking around Kairi and Winx's accounts to see what's happening before they come screaming at me), I figure I'm probably going to do the same thing Winx has done and rewrite Bloody Nightshade and Bloody Heirloom. Besides, the third book in the Bloodline trilogy is a crossover between my TotA dimension and Daniel's primary TotA dimension, and we hadn't agreed on that yet when I started writing. (Has he even posted Other Side of the Mirror yet?)

Anyway, I hope this holds you all over until I figure out if 1) I'm going to die, 2) I'm going to live and not bother rewriting everything, or 3) I'm going to live and rewrite everything.

Meh, what do you guys care? I'll shut up now.

A year and a half later, and I still don't own anything other than my OC's.

Chapter VI - Faint

Luke frowned as they entered Daath, then reached out and grabbed the building nearby for support as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Jade watched him in worry.

"Luke? Are you alright?" he asked. Luke pushed away from the wall as the dizziness faded, turning to smile at him.

"I'm fine," he told him. Then Tear collapsed, and he gasped, running to her side. "Uh, I'm not sure she is though," he added. Guy knelt and picked her up.

"Let's get her up to Ion's room so she can rest," he suggested. The others nodded and headed up to the cathedral.

"I'll go tell Ion!" Anise cried, running off.

So of course, when they walked in, Ion was there waiting for them. "Everyone! Anise told me what happened to Tear." he cried. Luke frowned.

"She just kinda collapsed outside," he said. "Can we take her up to your room?"

Ion nodded and led the way, letting them in and then frowning. "Wait, where's Anise? She came to tell me you were back and then ran off again. I though she'd gone back down to meet up with you," he wondered. Luke shrugged, then…

"Wh-whoa…" he mumbled, stumbling backwards into the wall. The others looked at him worriedly.

"You know… You got dizzy right before Tear collapsed, too," Natalia stated. Luke took a deep breath and shook his head.

"I'm gonna say it's a bad thing that this one was worse," he decided. Jade's expression went from concerned to shocked, and Guy frowned.

"That look tells me that you have a theory, and none of us is going to want to hear it," the blonde said. Jade's jaw clenched, though only barely.

"There's only one thing that could be affecting both of them like this, which, unfortunately, means that Sirris is probably having trouble as well, wherever she is," he stated. Ion gasped.

"Oh no… The miasma? If it's hitting both of them this hard, then…" he trailed off. Luke took a moment to breath deeply, and he made a face as the metallic, muddy scent reached him.

"It's back," he stated. Jade closed his eyes for a moment, and they all knew where his thoughts were. Ion looked thoughtful.

"I found a way to remove the miasma from Tear's body, but…" he started.

Anise chose then to run back into the room. "Guys, guys! The miasma, it's back! It's all over the place! Ion, you have to see this! This is bad!" she yelled, grabbing Ion's arm and dragging him off.

Luke frowned as Tear sat up. "Let's go. I've got a bad feeling about this," the melodist said.

"But, Tear, the miasma," he argued. She shook her head.

"I'll be fine. If the miasma really is back, it won't make much of a difference where I stay, anyway. But what about you?" she replied. Luke crossed his arms.

"I can hold it off for a while. Besides, you're right. We're both down for the count no matter where we are. Let's go see what's going on, okay?" he told her. The others nodded and headed out the door, running down to the glyph to portal down, before Luke held out a hand. "Hang on," he muttered, looking over the edge. He growled. "Dammit. We're walking into an ambush, but there's no other way we can go," he told them.

Jade frowned. "Let's go. Be prepared," he said. The fonic glyph glowed, and dumped them right in the midst of a group of Oracle Knights. Tear frowned when she saw Legretta.

"Major!"

Legretta frowned. "We can't afford to have you meddling now. We also have a few questions about the Key of Lorelei. Now, behave yourselves," she stated, drawing her guns only to pull back in surprise as Arietta and one of her ligers got between them.

"Are you really going to make Ion read the Seventh Fonstone Score? It would kill him! His body's too weak, I won't let you do that!" Arietta cried.

"It's the most convenient bait for Mohs, and it's necessary to raise the Isle of Feres. You want that, don't you?" Legretta answered. Arietta frowned.

"Luke, Anise is taking Ion to the Sephiroth in the cathedral here. You have to stop her!" the pink-haired girl yelled over her shoulder.

"Arietta! You'd betray us?" Legretta cried in shock. Arietta shook her head.

"Van said he wouldn't kill Ion! You all are the traitors!" she countered.

"Luke, let's hurry to the secret passage. Anise had been acting strange lately," Jade prompted. Luke took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright, let's go," he ordered, running for the stairs, Jade on his heels and the others following close behind. Little was said as the group raced through the cathedral, their minds too preoccupied with thoughts of what would happen to Ion if they didn't make it in time.

Once they reached the library, however, they were in for a shock, because Ion, Anise, and Mohs weren't alone.

"What the hell are Skye and that other Ion replica doing here? Anise, what are you trying to do?!" Luke yelled. Anise looked guilty.

"Legretta's useless. She couldn't even keep this band of children occupied?" Mohs grumbled.

"Well considering that one of them is Malkuth's Necromancer and one is a well-trained assassin, I'm personally not surprised," Skye said before frowning and pulling the replica in his arms off toward the secret passage.

"No, let me go! Ellie will get you for this, you'll see! Let me go!" the boy yelled, trying to pull out of the silver-haired man's grip. Mohs scowled.

"Anise, take care of this mess! Do not betray me. Oliver and Pamela are counting on you," he ordered. Anise bit her lip and nodded before Mohs walked off, pushing Ion along.

"Wait, Anise? What did he mean?!" Guy asked.

Anise growled. "Shut up! It's been my job from the start to keep Mohs informed about Ion!" she yelled before tossing a doll at them.

"Stop!" Jade yelled before running after her. But, they didn't make it before she escaped, and the fonic glyph was no longer working either. "Hmm, no use. It's not responding," he stated.

"Is there no other way to get to the sephiroth?" Tear wondered. Luke sighed.

"Well, there is, but I don't fancy walking through a volcano for hours," he grumbled.

"Hey, take a look at this," Guy said, holding up a piece of paper.

Luke took it and frowned. "It's a letter," he stated, opening it. "'You can reach the sephiroth through the volcano's shaft in Mt. Zaleho. I'm sorry.'" he read.

Natalia crossed her arms. "It's from Anise. It sounds like Mohs has taken her parents hostage," she stated. Jade nodded.

"Indeed. It's also probably true that she was Mohs' spy from the beginning," he added. Tear sighed.

"In any case, we need to rescue Ion and the other replica. Let's head to Mt. Zaleho," she prompted. "It's dangerous for Ion to read the Planet Score."

Jade nodded. "Yes. Ion is a replica. The moment he reads it, the seventh fonons in his body will run out. He won't survive. And the same holds true for the other replica," he said. Luke frowned.

"Grant."

"Huh?" Guy asked, looking at the redhead. Luke sighed.

"Ellie, Sync, Valon, and Grant are the only four Ion replicas, other than Ion, that are still alive. We saw Ion, we know it's not Ellie or Valon because he was male and there wasn't a scar on his face, and I'm certain it's not Sync, because he can fight, and that kid wasn't doing a great job of that. It's got to be Grant," he replied. Jade nodded.

"Let's get going, anyway. We don't have a lot of time," he stated. Luke nodded, then stumbled and put a hand to his forehead.

"Yeah... Neither do I, it seems. Come on," he muttered, walking out. But he was lost in his own thoughts, worried about Sirris. He hoped that wherever she was, she was safe, because he knew that she'd be taking the return of the miasma even harder than he already was.

But when the group got to the Albiore, they were in for a bit of a surprise.

"Valon?!"

The replica in question turned, and the look on his face told the group all they needed to know. "I'm coming with you," he stated. Luke looked like he wanted to argue, but when he stumbled again he sighed.

"Fine. We'll need the help," he agreed.

Valon's expression became even darker than it already was. "How much longer before the miasma takes you under?" he asked. Luke sighed.

"If we hurry, we should be able to get to Ion before I collapse," he said. Then he turned to Noelle. "Let's go, we need to get to Mt. Zaleho as quickly as possible."

Not long later, Valon sighed as they stepped out of the Albiore. "Man, I forgot how hot it is in here. I can't breathe," he grumbled. Then he sighed. "Oh well."

Luke frowned. "Mt. Zaleho's more active than ever, now that we're in the Qliphoth," he muttered. "Anyway, let's just head for the passage ring for now."

Mieu jumped up happily. "I can feel the Sephiroth's location!" he cheered. Luke smiled.

"We'll count on you if we get lost, Mieu," he told the cheagle. Then he took a deep breath and forced back another wave of dizziness as they headed into the volcano.

Some time later...

"Damn, it's hot in here..." Guy grumbled

Luke rolled his eyes. "You don't suppose... Whoa..."

Jade frowned in concern as he caught the redhead. "Are you alright?" he asked. Valon sighed. Luke had said he'd make it until they reached Ion, but...

Luke shook his head. "I wish I could say 'yes', but... Dammit... I should've just stayed on the Albiore," he mumbled, blinking as he tried to force his eyes to focus. Valon ran a hand through his hair.

"Too late to go back now. We told Noelle to head back for Daath so the Albiore's engines wouldn't get overheated," he reflected. Luke took two deep breaths and stood again.

"Sorry, guys... I don't think I'm going to be much help against the monsters at this point," he said. Guy nodded.

"You just worry about staying upright, and leave the monsters to the rest of us," he agreed. "Come on, we can't be too far out now," he added optimistically, though Valon had to admit that it sounded strained.

"Alright, let's go..."