I woke the next morning to the smell of something frying, and looked over at the fire pit. Ooo, Kratos was making omelets... I'd never been too fond of eggs in the morning, but when made by the guys from ToS, I'd be more than glad to give it another try. Since everybody else seemed to be up, or in the process of getting up, I estimated the time to be around nine and yawned. That was early for me.

And then it hit me- Holy crap, I've been away from home for a whole day now! Man, my parents must be in their graves by now... I thought a moment, and then shrugged. Good riddance!

My chest twinged, and I looked down curiously. Seeing the black stone set into my skin, I smiled as I remembered the Demon's Heart, which was now apparently my 'exsphere'. Personally, I couldn't wait to try it out, but I was also a little afraid that it might go out of control and kill me or something.

But Kratos said the Heart is stable, I reminded myself. So I'm going to be okay. Getting up and stretching, I retrieved my Hydra Dagger from where it had lain that night on the ground, and tucked it in my jacket, frowning as I noticed the numerous rips and tears. All my fighting had certainly done a number on my clothing... I wondered why the others didn't get their clothes all scuffed up, and then figured that Symphonian cloth was probably made out of stronger stuff.

"Breakfast." Kratos said, dishing out portions of omelet, and I rushed over so that I could at least get a crumb or two, what with the way Lloyd and Genis were scarfing down the food...

"So, where do we go now?" Lloyd asked later, wiping his mouth and looking around expectantly. There was a moment of quiet silence, during which everyone looked at Raine, while she looked at me.

"I don't know. Where do we go next?" she asked. I frowned a moment, trying to remember the synopsis of the Hard Path...

Lesse, Luin-Hima-Tower of Mana-Luin...

"...Asgard." I replied, bringing my focus back to the group. "We go to Asgard next."

"Are you sure?" Lloyd asked, looking confused.

"Pretty sure. After all, didn't Cleo III build a monument or something like that to the Summon Spirit of Wind? That's got to be a seal." I said, looking to Raine for conformation, who nodded.

"Asgard it is, then." Kratos stated, getting up and gathering his bags. "We'd best get moving if we want to get most of the way there by nightfall."

"You're far too practical, Kratos." I muttered as I passed by him to grab my own pack (kindly provided by Colette) and summon Noishe for a ride. Something told me this would be a long day...

----------

...I've got to stop being right all the time (or most of the time, anyway).

The day was seemingly quite long as we trudged along the road, and then through the grass, and then some woods, and then more grass. Along the way we were attacked by several monsters, some of which included giant bugs (Lloyd later asked me why I kept screaming "RAID! SOMEBODY GET ME A CAN OF RAID!"), a bunch of bandits, and then a cockatrice. However, by that point we were rather tired and not in a fighting mood, so we decided to run instead.

Now, as we trudged into a clearing in front of a lake, I promptly staggered to the water's edge and plopped down on a log, panting. "Ah, thank Martel we got away, I thought that stupid thing would chase us all the way to Asgard..."

"I'm huuuuuuuungry...when do we eat...?" Lloyd moaned, dropping to the ground and falling backwards in a mock faint. The others stared at us with a mixture of pity and embarrassment, and then Lloyd and I were promptly ignored.

"Gah...this sucks." I muttered, leaning back slightly and stretching. Apparently, though, I leaned back a little farther than was wise, because the next thing I knew I'd fallen straight into Lake Umacy.

"ACK!" SPLOOSH! The water in the lake was very clear, and quite warm actually. Blinking once or twice, I caught sight of something white and fluffy on the bottom of the lake before flipping right side up and swimming to the surface.

"Need a hand?" Lloyd commented as I clawed my way up and over the troublesome log that had resulted in my sudden bath, onto the bank. Soaking wet, I shoved some of my hair out of my eyes and growled. I felt like a distinctly pissed cat that had just been dunked in a bathtub, and my appearance went to show it. Hmm...at least those bloodstains were coming out of my jeans, somewhat...but that was besides the point. Shrugging off my jacket, I rolled it up a bit, and then shook it out at the others, snapping it out almost like a whip.

"If I'm getting wet, then you guys are too! Take this!"

Lloyd and Genis ran screaming like little girls into the woods. Colette squealed when some water drops hit her in the eye, and then she tripped over a rock and fell on the ground. Raine, of course, blanched and took off behind some tree, while Kratos just stood there and glared daggers at me. He, clearly, was not amused by the situation.

"Gods, Kratos, you need to lighten up." I remarked, before taking my jacket and wringing out the rest of it all over his head. From somewhere in the woods, I heard two very shocked gasps, doubtless from Lloyd and Genis, the two chickens.

Kratos looked at me for a moment, seemingly rather shocked. I couldn't figure out why it would bother him, he couldn't feel it after all...

"I need to lighten up, eh?" He said finally, after what seemed eternity. "If that's the case, then I know someone who needs to take another dip in the lake!"

"...Shit!" I squeaked, throwing down the remains of my jacket and taking off into the woods, similar to Lloyd and Genis. As a matter of fact, I found them hiding in the first tree I scrambled up, trying to look inconspicuous. (Of course, they were wearing red and blue, so that little endeavor wouldn't work...) Since I was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt, I didn't exactly blend in either, but what the hell. As long as I was away from Kratos.

Lloyd and Genis protested violently as I skittered over them and up into a fairly high branch, before settling and looking down at the ground. Raine and Colette had by now gotten off the ground and come out of hiding, and were looking up at the three of us in the tree. Well, make that one of me, apparently Lloyd had fallen out of the tree and Genis was climbing down after him. Squinting down at the others, I cursed as I spied Kratos down at the base of the tree, and apparently casting...something.

"Wind Blade!"

...oh shit.

The spell hit the base of the branch I was sitting on, and next thing I knew, I was falling. It was a long fall, and a very painful one. Numerous twigs scratched me and scuffed up my clothes, making them even worse for the wear. (And by now, trust me, they were pretty bad to start with.) I ended up hitting all my limbs on almost every available branch, and then I was just falling towards the ground- dear Martel, I wasn't going to die in battle. I was going to die from falling out of a tree.

"...Gotcha!"

Oomph! I blinked, very slowly, not realizing that I had closed my eyes upon the expected moment of impact. Looking around, it took me a moment to realize that someone had caught me, and that someone was Lloyd.

...oh my. I think I'd just forgotten to breathe again.

"Wow, you look like you've been through the wringer." He commented, setting me down gently. "But at least now we know that Heart thing is working correctly."

"What? It is?" I looked down at my arms, the multitude of scratches there were slowly starting to fade, leaving thin scars. Now that I thought about it, I could feel a kind of pulsation coming from my chest. The Demon's Heart was thumping madly, drawing on my strength to heal my wounds. I stared at the little black rock, and then back up at Lloyd. "That's good, I suppose...oh, and thank you for catching me. I thought I was going to die for a moment there..."

"Man, Kratos went too far." Lloyd muttered, rubbing the back of his head with a slight mix of embarrassment and anger. "I'm going to have to talk with him about this later..."

Lloyd? Chew out Kratos? Woo, I was definitely going to have to see that. As it was, it seemed the crisis was averted for now, so I followed Lloyd back to where the others were making camp.

The rest of the evening was rather ordinary. We yucked out over Raine's cooking, recounted past adventures, and did a little sparring. That only extended to Lloyd and I as we chased Kratos around the edge of the lake, with him insulting us as we rained curses and sword techniques down on his head. I was trying to work on learning 'Demon Fang' now, but it was definitely harder to do with a dagger than a sword. Or maybe that was just my lack of experience speaking.

After that was over, we collapsed at the fire's edge, panting and laughing our asses off. Even though fighting Kratos was tough, it was actually rather fun after a bit, and I was lucky enough to see him make a joke while fighting! That was history being made, right there. Of course, now I was dead tired and extremely sore, my limbs feeling like they were made out of jelly. The Demon's Heart was pumping like mad in my chest, and I was surprised nobody could hear it throbbing below my shirt. (I also wondered if Kratos could with his superior hearing, but apparently he either knew and was hiding it, or couldn't hear it.)

As we settled down for bed I heard Raine making a remark about getting me new clothes in Asgard, but I was too tired to listen or care. Plunking down on the ground with my semi-damp jacket for a pillow, I pulled a blanket over me and curled up fast asleep.