I'm trying something new with the PoV breaks...as I'm sure you can all tell. XD Lemme know if it's too distracting?

Thanks for all of the awesome reviews so far, guys! It's awesome to hear from you!


Catastrophe

Making her way to the castle, Tear felt her giddy mood slipping away at the prospect of her day's tasks. However, in the entry hall, she ran into someone she hadn't anticipated meeting. Jade Curtiss was idly gazing at a painting, apparently waiting for someone to announce him to the royal couple. He turned as Tear came in and gave her a half-smile in greeting.

"This is a surprise" Tear said, nodding in greeting to the Malkuth commander.

TALES FEND TAG

"A few things came up and I thought I ought to stop by while I was in town." he replied, adjusting his glasses with one finger. Tear nodded and continued down the hall. "If you don't mind, I'll just go in with you rather than waiting on someone to come announce me" Jade said, falling into step beside her. The two of them entered the room Natalia had asked Tear to come to the previous day. Stacks of parchment were scattered about and the royal couple was looking over a book that appeared to contain ribbon scraps.

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"Good morning" Tear said, to announce their prescience. She moved some parchment off a chair and sat down across from Luke and Natalia. Jade gave the pair a courteous nod and proceeded to procure a chair for himself. "I ran into Jade in the entry hall and he said he would accompany me" Tear explained, as she was sure the other two were wondering why the Necromancer had joined them. "What sort of thing are you two doing right now?" she asked. She didn't look at Luke, but she could already tell that today wouldn't be as bad as she had previously thought. Her feelings were firmly sealed away, especially since images of Judas kept drifting through her mind.

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Judas made his way, past the shops, into the main building of the coliseum. Approaching the desk, he made short task of registering, although not without a wince as to the money he was given up. Suddenly he was very happy he had not had to spend a cent since reaching Baticul, all thanks to Tear.

...Tear. What was he going to do about her invitation? He wanted to see her again, most certainly, but would it be awkward after what he had done?

No. It was not the time for that. Paying the entry fee, he made his way into the waiting room, standing quietly aside as he awaited his turn. It was almost time.

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Luke gazed over the collection of ribbons with his untrained eye. He really had no idea what he was looking for. Wasn't this stuff a woman's job? Tear would be much better suited to help Natalia.

Although he could not help but realise he would gladly do any amount of ribbon-studying for Tear...

No, it was too late for that now. Instead he tried to focus on the ribbons once more, hoping Tear would arrive soon. He really wanted out.

He did not have long to wait, as only a few minutes later Tear and Jade-why was Jade there?-stepped into the room. As he glanced up and met the girl's eyes, Luke could not help but notice that she seemed a bit...dazed, and definitely happier than she had been the night before.

Looking at her curiously, he greeted her with a simple, "Morning, Tear. Jade." He wanted to know what had cheered her up so much, he really did.

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Natalia knew Luke's heart wasn't in the work, yet there was little she could do. Instead she kept plugging away, patiently awaiting the arrival of her friend.

When Tear finally did show up, Colonel Curtiss in tow, she was somewhat surprised.

Rising, she nodded to her two guests. "Good morning, Tear. Thank you for coming. And Jade, to what do we owe the honour?" she asked before taking her seat once her guests were settled.

At Tear's question, Natalia quickly pointed out exactly what was required of her before turning her attention back to Jade, who was still withholding his response.

"Jade?"

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Jade shifted in his seat to face the princess more fully. "I am actually tracking a trail of strange coincidences and odd occurrences. There have been reports of strange things happening from as far away as Kaitzur. I happened to be in the area since the latest report came from a small village within a day's walk of the city. "He eyed the stacks of parchment and miscellaneous items around the table."It appears I've come at a rather busy time though."

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Tear looked up from the book Natalia had handed her as Jade spoke. "Strange occurrences?" she asked, thinking about the odd things that had happened last night. "What sort of strange occurrences?" She almost missed the mischievous glint that sparkled across Jade's eyes as he turned toward her.

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"What would you say if I told you it was ghosts?" he asked, his face and voice dead serious. If Tear hadn't noticed that glint a moment before, his voice would have sent a shiver down her spine. She still felt a bit nervous after what she had seen last night and the thought that it might have been a ghost, but the way Jade was acting she hoped that he might have an explanation.

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"I wouldn't believe you" Tear said, although she didn't meet Jade's gaze. However, since she was looking to the side, she found herself meeting Luke's eyes instead. A familiar pang of sadness welled up, and she quickly looked back down to the book Natalia had given her. Now was NOT the time for that sort of thing, nor was it the time to worry about ghosts. Jade chuckled softly as she returned to her work.

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"Actually we have no explanation as of yet. People have just been reporting things that shouldn't happen but do, such as objects mysteriously disappearing or falling when they ought to have been secure. There have been some strange weather patterns as well, lightning storms in areas that usually don't experience such things." He adjusted his glasses again as he spoke, returning his full attention to Natalia. "I thought I ought to at least let you know, since I've been following reports in Kimlasca-Lanvalder for a while now."

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Tear was only half listening as Jade spoke to Natalia. She was trying to concentrate on the task she had been given, but her mind kept drifting to Judas. She wondered how he was doing in the Coliseum. She had no doubt that he was a skilled fighter, and she almost wished she could go watch a few matches. She also couldn't help but think of the kiss he had given her. Why had he done that?

Natalia suddenly snapped a book shut and announced that she would like some lunch. Tear blinked in surprise at how much time had already passed. She was making slow progress, distracted as she was. Glancing up, she was that Luke kept sneaking looks at her when he thought Natalia wasn't paying attention. He was watching her at the moment, so their eyes met again. She gave him a small smile, and for once her heart didn't ache at the sight of him. Perhaps she would be able to accept this marriage after all, without as much heartache as she had previously assumed.

Outside the room, there was some sort of commotion going on. Jade opened the door and came back in, although Tear had never even noticed him leave. She felt a bit embarrassed at how out of it she had apparently been.

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"It appears there is some trouble down at the Coliseum" Jade announced, shutting the door behind him. "I intend to go and have a look for myself in a moment, but I thought it might be prudent to inform you before I go." He looked at the three still seated around the table, arching one eyebrow in an unspoken question. Tear stood up.

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"I'll go with you. I need a break to stretch my legs anyway" she said. She grabbed her staff from where it had fallen while she was working. "What about you two?" she asked, looking over at Luke and Natalia as well. If they joined her and Jade, this would be the first time in a long while that they had been anywhere close to the group that had traveled around trying to stop her brother's plans. Tear had to admit she missed those days, even if there were a lot of nights spent sleeping outside when they hadn't reached an inn before nightfall. Of course, once they had met with Noelle and had access to the Albiore, that hadn't been a problem anymore. She was also slightly worried about Judas, who as far as she knew was still at the Coliseum. Joining Jade by the door, she waited for the royal couple to answer.

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Judas was having the time of his life. Having easily cleared the Beginner level, he had moved on to the Advanced Singles. He cleared the first battle with ease, his sword flashing in swiftly executed artes. As he fought, he could not shake the feeling that he had done this before. Yet...not. The audience felt right, the battling alone felt right, yet he felt...more at his ease than felt right.

At least until the second match.

Gazing around himself, he suddenly grinned. Now this was more like it. There were enemies everywhere, at least a dozen of them, and somehow that felt right.

Enthusiastically, he threw himself into the fray.

"Rock Slag!" he cried, leaping into the air and performing a graceful flip as his sword smashed into the ground, crushing one bird beneath it, in an explosion of rock and fire. Not being one to waste time, he hopped back and into the air. "Die!" The arte landed him amidst the enemies, surrounded on all sides.

Well, it was nothing he could not handle.

Zipping in behind the birds, he gripped his sword tightly, and swung it like a bat. The arte threw one bird into another so both flew to the ground is a cloud of dust.

Whirling around, he quickly hopped backwards, wanting to get away from the irksome birds that had been repeatedly pecking at the back of his head. It was not horribly disruptive, but it was starting to get to him. As he hopped past the two birds on the ground, he stabbed them through with his blade. Once they were finished off, he hopped back again, wanting to gain his space and fight from a distance for awhile.

At least until his back hit something.

With a startled grunt, the black-haired male found himself sailing across the arena to land face-first in the hard-packed dirt. As soon as he hit the ground, the dark-haired male was flipping back to his feet. Dark eyes immediately set to work taking stock of his surroundings. The first thing he noted was that, where the arena had been filled with only chirpee-like enemies, now it was filled with monsters of all shapes, colours, and sizes. The next thing he noticed was that the cheering from the onlookers had changed to something more akin to screams of fear.

So clearly this was not supposed to happen. Had the monsters escaped? That seemed the most likely option to him.

Bad luck just seemed to follow him around...

Well, there was no point in putting it off.

"Blizzard!" he yelled, cutting the air in front of him into an X, which then exploded in a stream of wind and ice. Letting the sword flip over his head, he kicked out behind himself with his right leg, flipping the blade back around so he could catch it with his left hand. Without a second thought, he hurled himself into another attack immediately.

"Cyclone!" he cried, flipping his body repeatedly in the new arte. As he was going through it, he felt something's claw catch him down the back. Ignoring the pain, and the blood he could feel streaming down his back, he gripped his sword tighter and carried on.

TALES FEND TAG

At Jade's announcement that something was happening at the coliseum, Natalia turned her hazel eyes on Luke, her normal commanding posture coming out in full force.

"Luke, go with Jade and see what the problem is," she ordered. "It is royalty's job to see to it that nothing happens that could endanger the citizens without investigating it." She herself would have gone, except she felt it would be a good chance for Luke to do something for the people, and someone had to stay behind and work on the wedding.

Besides, she knew which one Luke would prefer. Not only that, either. She really did want her lunch.

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Luke nodded, trying not to let relief show on his features as Natalia all but ordered him to accompany Jade and Tear. Moving over to the door, he grabbed his own blade, the Key of Lorelei, and buckled it across his back.

"Okay, we'll try to be back soon," he promised, already on his way out the door.

Glad to be out, the redhead led the way out of the palace, and down across the paved courtyard to the royal lift that would take them down directly to the ground-level of the city, where the coliseum was situated.

Even as they arrived at their destination, he could see patrons streaming out into the streets. Clearly something in there was scaring them.

"C'mon, guys," he said, already breaking into a run. Pushing his way into the building, he ran for the stands. Once there, he was horrified by the sight that met his emerald eyes. One loan man was down there, fighting what had to be every monster in the building. He was doing a noble job of it, but still hard pressed. The bleeding wounds covering his body could not have been helping, either.

"We need to help him!" Luke cried, yet even as he said it, the man's demeanour changed.

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Judas was exhausted, there was no doubt about that, yet there was no way he was going to give up.

Gritting his teeth, he shoved his sword into the ground. "Aura Field!" he yelled as beams of healing magic washed over him, revitalising some of his strength. It was not enough, though, but it would have to do.

Jumping back, he whipped his sword out in front of him, carving another X in the air before him, which shot out and knocked one enemy halfway across the field. "Blast!"

Gripping his blade's hilt tightly, he decided it was time to end this...if that were possible. The dark-haired male zipped across the battle field as though dancing, his dark, black hair streaming out behind him as he did so, and his sword flying in a deadly, gleaming arc.

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Seeing the wounds on Judas' body, Tear immediately stopped where she stood and began chanting the incantation for a healing spell. She was amazed how well he was holding up against the crowd of monsters. Beside her, Luke seemed worried about Judas as well, drawing his sword to head down and help the dark-haired young man. Jade, on the other hand, kept his usual calm demeanour. He stepped in front of Tear, materializing his spear and taking a defensive stance. It appeared as though he was going to protect Tear while she cast in case some of the monsters came in their direction. A few had already noticed the trio's entry and started toward them while Judas wreaked havoc on their fellow creatures on the other side of the arena floor.

"Come forth O illumination of life! Healing Circle!" Tear cried, casting the circle around Judas. He was moving around a good bit, but fortunately he was still within the confines of the healing spell. The circle of light glowed brightly and even from where she stood Tear could see some of his wounds closing, much to her relief. In front of her, Jade quickly and efficiently dispatched several small creatures while Luke engaged a large monster halfway down the stairs to the arena floor.

"Jade, we need to move closer" Tear said, already moving past the necromancer as she spoke. They made their way down the stairs, joining Luke and clearing the stands of monsters. As they fought, Tear wondered why there were so many monsters around, and how they had gotten up into the stands. She wasn't actually sure how to get down into the arena floor where Judas was, but somehow some of the monsters had gotten up here into the stands where the trio was fighting. Tear paused on the edge of the arena, looking down into the actual fighting ring. Judas still had a substantial amount of blood on himself, but she wasn't sure how much was his own and how much belonged to the monsters he was methodically and gracefully dispatching. Just in case, she began to cast first aid.

"Oh healing power…First aid!" she called, and the burst of light around Judas indicated her skill had hit home. She looked around for a way to get down into the arena with him, wondering if he would be able to handle the large number of monsters on his own. She didn't see Luke anywhere, and she wondered if the red-head knew a way down from the stands. Looking down again, Tear wondered if she would injure herself jumping down. Behind her, Jade was watching Judas fight, apparently content to just observe instead of interfering. She felt a slight twinge of irritation at the necromancer's cold attitude toward people he didn't know, and his preference for observing situations to see if they actually required his assistance rather than just jumping in to offer aid right away as Luke would do. She looked at Judas again, amazed at his stamina. Even from here she could see the determined expression on his face as he carved a path through the enemies.

TALES FEND TAG

Judas was near the end of his rope when he felt a wave of healing light wash over him. Unable to process much beyond the swarm of enemies, he simply continued to fight on. He was grateful for the help, but he really did not have much time to stop and check out the stands. However, when a second healing spell hit him, he did just that. Clearly he had at least one ally out there, and it would be a good idea to know where that person was, protecting an ally was important.

What he was not expecting to see, however, was Tear. Oh, sure, further down the stands some redhead was hacking away at the monsters in the stands, and a honey-haired man was standing guard over Tear, yet he really only had eyes for the brunette. Seeing her in the middle of this mess worried him. What if she got hurt? Sure she seemed to be fully capable of looking after herself, yet that did not necessarily mean she was not in danger.

Clearly he had to end this quickly.

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Luke was steadfastly hacking away at monsters, his emerald eyes narrowed in determination. Not only was some poor guy trapped down there alone, but Tear was also just a little ways above him, trying to keep them alive with her hymns. There was no way he was going to let her get hurt because of his own negligence.

Gripping the Key of Lorelei tightly, he flattened one monster with a devastating Rending Blast, and chucked another one into the wall with a swiftly executed Swallow Fury. Yet it was not enough. There were monsters everywhere.

Growling to himself, he decided to do the only thing he could.

"You're finished! Arise, resound, and become the blade of destruction! Lost Fon Driiiive!" Waving the blade in front of himself, he began cutting voids in the air, which he then released in the form of a devastating blast that cleared half of the bleachers of monsters.

Lowering the grey sword, he checked the status of the area around him, pleased to see that it was mostly void of monsters. He had even managed to kill some of the ones assaulting the man on the arena floor.

Once he was certain the area around him was clear, he began running back to where Tear and Jade where. Their location also contained the last of the monsters in the bleachers-which he had intentionally not attacked. He really did not want to flatten either of them with his blast.

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Judas was impressed when the kid in amongst the benches cleared out the monsters with one move. That had been quite the attack. He did not, however, miss that the redhead had left the monsters around Tear and the other man. Glancing up to see if they were okay, his eyes widened when he realised that the terrified monsters were pressing their assault harder, likely out of fear at their dwindling numbers.

With a growl, he stood helplessly trying to work out what to do, ignoring the monsters clawing at him for a moment. He knew he had to do something, but what? His artes were fairly short-ranged, save a few like Final Gale and Azure Storm, but even they would reach nowhere near far enough.

He needed something huge.

Whipping his sword around so it was in front of him, he spun the blade a few times, until it was vertical in front of him, point reaching toward the sky. He then whipped it back down, summoning a huge burst of power into the blade as he did so, lengthening the sword.

But it still was not enough.

Raising the blade over his head, he let out a wordless yell as he summoned even more power, which materialised in the form of a giant, white beam of light, stretching toward the sky.

Now that was big enough.

"Light Sword!" he yelled, slashing out with the blade and using it to demolish everything left in the area.

Once that was done, the long-haired male collapsed to his knees, panting for breath. He could feel a disgusting conglomeration of sweat and blood leaking down his frame, and his legs felt too shaky to hold him up any longer. Looking up at Tear, he attempted a weak grin. Well, that had certainly been fun.

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Judas looked ready to pass out after the massive explosion of energy he had unleashed. He had fallen to his knees in the center of the carnage, and Tear noticed that a part of the arena had been damaged enough by the burst from Luke's Lost Fon Drive that someone could climb down to the floor there. She hurried over, carefully making her way down over the rubble. She heard Jade following, double checking any monsters that hadn't been completely obliterated. Tear wasn't worried about the monsters, since the energy from Judas' attack had been incredibly intense. Luke gave her a somewhat confused look as she ran past him, but understanding dawned on him as she began climbing down to the arena floor.

Finally reaching the bloodstained floor, Tear ran over to Judas, kneeling beside him despite the mess. "Are you all right?" she asked, worry in her voice as she checked him for any visible damage. She cast first aid on him again, although the healing light couldn't do anything about the state of his clothing or the blood that was still wet on his skin. "That attack was amazing...I've never seen anything like that!" She was very impressed by his skill, but she was also worried about how pale he looked under the blood. It seemed that his attack had taken a lot out of him, not that she blamed him. If she had been the one fighting, she probably wouldn't have made it out alive.

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Saying Luke was startled by the sudden outburst from the dark-haired male would be an understatement. It had been clear he was skilled even before they arrived, since he was surviving alone, but to summon that much energy, even though he had to have been exhausted, was something else entirely.

Well, it was not like Luke was going to complain. The fact that it seemed nobody had died was enough for him.

When Tear shot by him, Luke furrowed his brow slightly before realising where she was going. Of course. To heal him. Seeing that Jade was taking care of the inspection, Luke decided to follow. He really wanted to meet the warrior who had beaten the better part of the coliseum's monsters single-handedly.

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Judas was relieved when Tear settled in next to him, another healing spell already on her lips. He had a lot of injuries, and that required a lot of healing. Yet even as the last of his wounds closed up, the feeling of lethargy did not leave him. And that wasn't solely because he was tired. He knew he had lost a lot of blood today, his skin felt cold and clammy, his heart rate was too fast, even considering the adrenaline in him, and he just felt like he had no strength to move. The very will to do so had literally been leaked out of him.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he finally told her in response to her question. "But I bet I'd be better if all of this blood was inside of me." He was attempting to crack a joke, yet his smile came out as more of a pained grimace. Despite the healing, he hurt all over. "Plus I probably really need a bath."

At her comment on his attack, Judas shrugged weakly. "Well, it's not like I could very well let you get killed, now is it? And what are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were supposed to be busy today."

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When Luke finally joined Tear and the stranger, he nodded to the man, glancing over him quickly. While the man looked completely exhausted, it seemed like he would live. The very fact that he was conscious enough to hold a conversation with Tear seemed fairly indicative of that fact.

"That...was pretty cool," Luke told him, kneeling down next to Tear.

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Judas shrugged at the redhead's comment, not really interested in listening to mindless praise.

"We do what we can to survive."

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Luke laughed. "Isn't that the truth..." At the stranger's comment, Luke could not help but reflect on his relationships with Natalia and Tear. Yes, it was the truth.

"Oh! I'm Luke, by the way. Luke Fon Fabre, son of Duke Fabre...and fiancé to Princess Natalia," he added that last part with a poorly-hidden grimace. It was even harder to say than normal with Tear right there next to him. "This is Locrian Sergeant Tear Grants," he opted not to add anymore of Tear's titles, since he figured being a member of the Grand Maestro Division, under Mohs, was no honour any longer. "...formerly of the Order of Lorelei. And up there is Colonel Jade Curtiss, commander of the Third Division of Malkuth's Imperial Forces." He was not trying to sound pompous by adding their titles, of course, but since he planned to take the man back to the palace, it was probably best that he give him some warning.

"How about we head back t the palace? You can get cleaned up and something to eat there. Then we can talk."

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When the redhead introduced himself as Luke, Judas huffed silently to himself and glanced at Tear. She certainly did not seem to appreciate the man rubbing his engagement in their faces one bit.

Frowning, the dark-haired male shrugged at Luke's invitation.

"Sure, fine. I'm Judas," he could not help the bite that his tone had when he introduced himself. The guy who was willingly throwing a girl like Tear aside was right in front of him. It pissed him off.

So that he was not focusing on his jealousy, because that was what it was, for all that he hated to admit it, Judas grabbed his sword and used it as a staff to push himself back to his feet.

"How far is this place?" he demanded. He was not sure how long he would be able to keep his feet for.

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Tear felt rather annoyed as Luke rattled off her title, especially since she had left it out of her former conversations with Judas. It was enough to have everyone else constantly reminding her of her rank, she had been happy to let him think of her as simply 'Tear.' In fact, she hadn't even given him her last name, nor had he given her his last name. She noticed that he hadn't given it to Luke either, and she wondered if he had forgotten it with the rest of his memories. Watching him get unsteadily to his feet, she took a half-step forward to offer her assistance, but paused. She didn't know if he was the type to accept help like that.

She did notice the rather sharp tone in Judas' voice as he introduced himself though. Was that an effect of his condition or was he upset about something? The expression on his face was rather dark. After her initial hesitation, Tear stepped forward to offer Judas support whether he wanted it or not. She didn't even ask, but moved beside him and draped his arm over her shoulder while wrapping her arm around his waist. Luke would be more suited to supporting him, but she suspected Judas would be rather reluctant to accept help from the red-head. Of course, he probably didn't particularly want to look too weak to walk himself, but the way he had swayed when he stood up indicated that he might not make it as far as the castle unattended.

"Lean on me" she instructed, her tone leaving no room for argument. Glancing up toward Jade, she saw that the Colonel had joined them on the arena floor.

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"I'll be staying here to ask some questions. I will come back up to the castle later when I have a better understanding of what happened here." Jade said, eyeing Judas critically. He had not expected an attack of the magnitude Judas had unleashed, and he thought that perhaps after the young man had rested he might need to have a chat with him. At the moment, however, the dark-haired stranger looked as though he had been 'put through the wringer,' so to speak. Jade suspected that without Tear's support the young man might topple over rather quickly. "If you will excuse me?" he said, turning away and walking toward the fighter's entrance to the arena.

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Realizing that the door Jade was heading for would probably be the easiest way out, Tear followed the necromancer's lead, although at a much slower pace. She looked at Judas, whose face was very close to hers due to the way she had draped his arm over herself. She couldn't help thinking of the kiss he had given her, and even though he was quite filthy and tired from his battle he was undeniably good looking. After he had a chance to clean up she would ask him about the kiss. She glanced back over the shoulder Judas wasn't draped over to make sure Luke was following. Natalia would not be pleased if Tear returned without her fiancé in tow.