AN8 I want to go ahead and thank my readers and reviewers, and especially thank those that continue to follow the story. I makes me happy to know that people like the writing.The sense of urgency eventually returned. We backtracked quickly, dodging the monsters and sentinels as we made our back to the beginning on the ruins.

"Look, there he is!" Karol pointed at the thief, surrounded by a half-dozen of those fish-beasts. He was cowering, shaking and nearly screaming. We were still a good hundred feet away from him. I wanted nothing more than to stop right there and torch him. I couldn't recall being so filled with anger before in my life..! Even when I met Yuri and his troupe, I had been able to keep some sense of calm, but this was too far.

We moved in closer, Repede jumping ahead suddenly to intercept an opportunistic frog taking a dive at the hooded figure. More were to follow, however, and a battle broke out. Spells were cast and swords were swung, and soon the monsters lay dead on the dampened stone around us.

…Rather than thank us for our efforts the thief continued to cringe, hands up in front of his face. A meager defense, indeed.

"How can he just steal the core and run off like that?" I said, half to myself. I stared him down, as if trying to burn right through him with my eyes. Meanwhile, Repede began to close the gap between him and the figure, growling loudly.

The thief screamed, backing up until he was completely out of room to move. "Make him stop! Please! I was only hired to do a job!"

'A job, eh? Kind of like the job I'm about to run all over your face?'

"I was told I could get a good price for any blastia cores I could find!" The man yelped as Repede bayed threateningly at him.

"You stole cores from the capital too, didn't you?" Yuri accused, the business end of his blade not an inch from the coward's nose..

The man lowered his hands and stared back at Yuri. "What? The capital? No way! Not me. Never!"

Not the answer Yuri was looking for, granted. But that hadn't stopped him before.

"A friend, then?" He continued.

"Yeah! A friend! It's that creep Dedecchi, that's who it is!"

'Heh. This guy spills easy.' Seemingly, the seas were beginning to part before us.

Yuri's expression changed softly. "Where's he headed?"

The thief glanced around quickly, taking inventory of the angry looks on our faces. He'd already spilled a name; he looked unsure as to whether he should or shouldn't talk about whoever employed him. Repede let out another sharp bark, and once again the man started to talk.

"He…he's probably picking up the money from the client right now." He surrendered.

"Client? Who's the client?" Yuri's sword started to lower. Whether he was assured his quarry wouldn't bolt, or that his arm was tired, I did not know. Either way, the thief let his guard drop and his speech became less labored.

"I don't know! I just know he's in Nor Harbor. I swear that's it. He's a big guy with a scar across his cheek and one eye missing."

"So he's stealing the cores?" Yuri went to confirm, preparing to think it over...

…before I decided to butt in. "And where did you steal that Sorcerer's Ring from?" A common thief wouldn't have a ring like that. They were too valuable to just give away.

"Who says I stole it?" He asked, looking genuinely offended. Well, what part of his face we could see did, anyway, "The client said I could use it for the job!"

"Liar!" I snarled. "Do you even know how difficult it is for anyone to get their hands on one? Much less the boss of a bunch of pickpockets."

"Honest! I'm telling the truth here!" He was very insistent on this. Still, I wasn't convinced.

"Whoa, this could be real big." Karol whispered. "Think someone important is behind this?"

"I think you might be on the right track, Captain Karol." Yuri replied as he shot a venomous glare at the thief, stopping him in his tracks as he went to make a break for it. "Doesn't sound like your average band of thieves."

"Man," the thief grumbled as he clutched at his hood, "First the knights, then the monsters, now this."

Estellise moved between Karol and I, smiling happily. "The knight? You mean Flynn was here?"

" Flynn? That's the guy. That damn knight." The thief spat.

I'd had about all I could stand of this joker. I was still furious. I wanted revenge. On top of all that, the sound of this guy's voice was even more grating than Karol's. I approached him, looming over his body and glaring daggers into what I could assume to be his eyes through the opening in his hood, and whipped my belt against his skull. I made certain that the buckle had full-on contact.

The man inevitably fell to the ground.

"Good going, Rita! Now he's out cold! What now?" Karol chastised as he walked over to the now unconscious blastia thief.

I blew him off completely. "Oh, I'll have the city guards come by later to pick him up."

"Then we better get back to Aspio." Yuri resolved, sheathing his sword. Without so much as another word, we took the stairs back up to the entrance and returned to the city.

These people had turned out to be nothing but bad luck and trouble. So many of my plans had been completely ruined…my goal, now, was completely unattainable. I was left with nothing but shambles of a dream and a seemingly endless number of questions.

Why did someone want to impersonate me? Why did someone bother to frame me of all people?

'Maybe this situation is a lot bigger than I thought?'

At the moment, I really didn't like being stuck with these three, but it looked like I was going to have to tolerate them at least a little bit longer…

The walk back to Aspio progressed silently until we reached the gates.

"Well, what now?" I asked of no one in particular.

"I think we should head to Nor Harbor and see what we can find out about this 'client'." Yuri offered. "What about you?"

I frowned at him and sighed. "Well, I have to rethink all of my plans, now…and think about where to go from here. That and somebody has to tell the guards about what's happened...You can rest at my place, and I'll meet you there to say goodbye."

From there we temporarily went our separate ways. I headed over to the large laboratory in the middle of the city. It was open to only the top minds in Aspio, each of us having our own special key.

I walked over to my station, ignoring the stares of one of the other scholars that studied opposite me. I'd made some of my greatest discoveries here in this very spot. Most of my notes were stashed in here, kept under close guard by lock and key- the remainder of which stayed strewn about tables in my hut. I had figured that incomplete research would throw off the unwary.

I slipped the key into the hole and the metalwork clicked, unlocking the drawer. With a frown on my face I reached my hand into the space and pulled out my papers, looking over my documents and pictures. I'd forgotten how much time and effort I dedicated to the anima formula, and at the same time I wondered why no one else had figured it out up until that point. Was Goliath truly the only specimen I could analyze?

It was at this point that I realized that I'd pretty much lost any reason I had to stay in Aspio. Whatever other discoveries I could make would have to be made out in the field, given the fact that most of my close-to-home research was complete.

I sighed loudly, shoving the papers back into the drawer and relocking it.

A short time later as I stepped back into my house, I was taken completely off guard by what I saw. Estellise was inspecting my bookshelf, a large book already in hand as she searched the shelves for another. Karol and Yuri had made themselves comfortable on my floor, the latter using a rather large dictionary as a pillow. They seemed so relaxed I could hardly believe I was seeing it. Had they no respect for my house at all…?

"You sure made yourselves at home." I said sarcastically, closing the door behind me and walking in. Yuri pulled himself off the floor, leaving a relaxed Karol behind him.

"Alright, so I'm sorry I ever doubted you." Yuri said. His apology was only half-done and sounded more than mildly sarcastic.

I responded with a sharp roll of my eyes. What an ass.

"It's about time we got going." Yuri announced as he picked his sword up off the floor by its decorated strap. "Estelle?"

Estellise was completely drawn into one of my books. I knelt down to the floor to get a glimpse of the cover; a geography book I'd abandoned long ago. Learning landmarks wasn't exactly the favorite field, after all.

"Estelle." Yuri repeated, snapping his fingers close to her face. She broke out of her trance, slamming the book shut and getting up, acting like it'd never happened. "I'm sorry! Alright, let's go."

And then they were gone.

I stood completely alone in my house. Once more, I had no one to distract me…or to talk to. I placed the book Estellise had taken off the shelf back into its rightful place, and pushed the lone dictionary into its spot next to the other textbooks on the floor.

After that little adventure, everything seemed so much quieter… I sighed and sat down on the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest and hugging them close. It was going to be quiet for a long time to come, too; Day after day of silence, with nothing to meet my ear but cruel, whispered words and the scratch of my pen.

I couldn't do it.

So I didn't get along with them very well. At least they didn't malign me- well…maybe at first, but not anymore. 'I guess being treated like a criminal was a few steps up from just being treated like a freak.' I didn't want to admit it, but I actually…I liked their company. I'd been locked up in silence for so long that I'd forgotten how a real conversation felt.

I slowly rose from the floor and dusted off my clothes. I had already decided what I wanted to do.

Aspio had been my home for years, but now I felt like I had to leave. Something was pulling me into this, telling me that my destiny lay beyond the cavern walls.

I opened the door once again, and I was washed in the city's dim glow. Yuri and his group had barely made it to the court. They must have taken their time…

I approached casually, eavesdropping as they carried on without me. Plans of doubling back to Halure were being discussed...Wasn't that the city Flynn had come from?

"I'm going with you." I stated clearly, raising my voice to be heard over theirs.

Estellise pivoted instantly on the heel of her boot, radiating joy. Yuri and Karol simply angled their heads behind her, bearing expressions on their faces that could only be read as, "Oh God, no."

"Really?" Estellise exclaimed, then trotted over to me and grabbed my hands. "This is so great. I've never had a friend my age before!"

Judging from how she was acting, I would have thought she was 12.

"I don't think we're-"

"This is going to be so much fun." Estellise continued to gush.

'Riiiight.'

The conversation that ensued was rife with arguments and excuses, and in the excitement Karol accidentally confirmed a suspicion of mine. There wasn't much to go on, but he'd made it clear that there was more to Estellise than met the eye.

Yuri silently reprimanded Karol with a steely glance, but his eyes softened quickly. Without another word, he led the way to the entrance of the cave, and sunlight washed over us once again. The weak musk of Aspio was washed from me by the cool breeze from the mouth of the cave, and I closed my eyes as I took in the smell of the fresh green grass.

Leaving home had never felt so invigorating..