Mwahaha, I think I just killed Luke. Anyway, I'm bombarding my sister with pictures of Jade. I keep finding pictures of him inspired by the skit in Mt. Zeleho...

I don't own ToA.

Read on!!


Tear moaned quietly, rubbing her head as she sat up. She blinked, trying to focus on what was in front of her. What happened? Why did her head hurt so much? And Lorelei, why did she feel like she slept on a rock? Looking around, she saw she was in a small clearing in a forest. The sun was just peaking above the horizon.

"You awake now? Aurora?" A distant voice asked.

"Huh?" she looked around, finding the spinning shape of a man with red hair, and green eyes sitting next to her. "Who...?"

"I'm Asch remember?" he said, finally coming into focus. "Look Guy, you gave her amnesia or something," he said, looking behind her.

Tear turned around. She stared at Guy, a blond haired man, with icy blue eyes, polishing a thin rapier. Suddenly her mind caught up with her. She was talking to Asch, a High Knight, she wanted to ask him something, then he mentioned Guy... "Y-you!" she stumbled back, pointing at Guy.

"Me," Guy said plainly. "What about me?"

"You're him!" Tear said. "That Gail-" suddenly his sword was at her throat.

"Yep, that's me, so let's get something straight." Guy said threateningly. "You've already seen stuff you aren't supposed to see, me for instance. So, you can't tell anyone, at any time, or anywhere, that you saw me, that you were with us, and that you even heard my name. Asch an' me, we're on a little mission, finding the princess is really only a side quest. Now, we've got no choice now but to take you with us. We can't risk letting you go and having you tell every one about us. This isn't just about finding the princess, it's much bigger than that. This isn't just a walk in the park, the entire world is hanging on a thread right now. But I wouldn't expect a farmer's daughter to know about anything. And I'm not explaining everything to you, that's even worse. So all you have to do is tell. No one. Got it?"

Tear nodded quickly, trying to lean away from the blade at her throat.

"She'll need a disguise..." Asch said.

Guy nodded, sheathing his sword. "Hm..."

"What? Why?" Tear asked, looking between the two soldiers.

"Obviously, people will be searching for you. We obviously can't have that or we're screwed, if people see you, they'll see us. And we're obviously not leaving you alone to run off." Guy said, stressing the word 'obvious'. His eyes wandered to her hair. "Turn around."

"Why?" Tear asked again.

"Just do it." Guy sighed in annoyance, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around himself. "We're cutting your hair."

Tear didn't say anything as Guy pulled a knife from his belt, grabbing a fist full of her hair. She listened to the sound of the knife ripping through her hair. Sighing a good bye when her head suddenly felt lighter. She turned around again as Guy was shaking long brown hairs from his fingers.

"And luckily for us," he said. "I need to travel around a lot, so I've got some stuff that'll help with your disguise." Guy dug through his small pack, bringing out a small blue container. "Contacts, brown." he tossed the container to her. "And do something about that jacket, you'll be described last seen wearing that."

"What do I do with it?" Tear asked. She really didn't want to leave it behind...

"Here, I'll take it." Asch stood up, holding his hand out. Tear frowned as she took off her jacket. What would Asch want with it? Her question was answered when the red head shoved it into his own pack.

Tear stared blankly at the contacts. People in the village usually got glasses, people in large cities got contacts. How was she supposed to use them...? She heard Guy sigh and shake his head in annoyance, again. "Disaster..." she heard him mutter.

"I'll do it, open your eyes." he took the box, flipping off half the lid. "There's two sets in here, we'll get more when we reach St. Binah. Well, you and Asch will. Stop blinking!"

Tear would blink every time Guy tried to put the contact in her eye, this caused Asch to snicker at his growing anger. "Keep your eyes open damn it!" Guy growled.

Asch stared up at the light creeping across the sky. This was going to be a very long journey...

"Stop doing that!"

"I wouldn't have to if you would stop blinking!!"

He was going to go crazy.


"...You aren't going to get away with this, you know."

"What makes you say that?"

"Father's sent knights all over the world. They'll find you out, and when they do-"

"Those puny soldiers aren't any match for me."

Anise sighed, an action that was becoming too common for the world's own good. She was being used as bait by a man named Vandestelca Musto Fende. She knew this man. He'd once been with the guard. But she never knew that this was what he'd become when he went missing. A man obsessed with power, and totally focused on his plan to take her father's throne. They were in one of the many rooms of his underground citadel. The whole room was lit up with light from the screens of his many fon machines. All monitoring the 'key' to his plan.

His 'key' was in the incubation stage, and would be for the next few weeks, according to Van's calculations. Anise stared it it. the last time she saw it, Van was still injecting chemicals into it. Now, the artificial womb was occupied by a small boy. Curled up in a ball with his arms around his knees, Van had inserted to tube into his mouth for breathing purposes. He'd explained everything about it too her, and she couldn't imagine the power the small boy would eventually wield once it was fully grown.

She'd gotten a small kick out of the fact that Van didn't know what half the chemicals did, he didn't know the life span of it, and it was nameless. Maybe she'd have to think up a possible name while she planned her escape. Just so he wouldn't end up named something like...She didn't know, Dist?

"What are you snickering about?" Van turned from his work. Anise didn't notice that she'd actually started to giggle, and quickly closed her mouth. Van only gave her a quick glare and turned to his work again. Anise stared at the boy floating in the middle of the room again. He had dark brown hair, and was incredibly pale. She found herself hoping that if she stared at him long enough, he'd open his eyes too. No such luck.