The Professor's face betrayed him and gave way to anger but kept silent. His face slightly turned towards his left shoulder and spoke to his friends, "Get ready."

"You- you aren't going to stay behind are you?!" Zelda squirmed around, despite Tres' near unbreakable hold.

He ignored her and reached into his pocket. "…Isaak, you will pay for the crimes and sins you've committed…" He extracted a small, silver ball and threw it at his former friend's feet. "But it won't be today!!"

A wave of unbearable, white light washed over their eyes, painting the inside of their eyelids. Am… I blind? Zelda wondered. This nothingness covering me won't disappear. Perhaps I died instead or am dying.

Something under her… body?- Maybe?- shifted and bobbed up and down in sickening fashion. She had never been on a boat before and she didn't know whether or not she had seasickness. Yet, without the ability to see, everything was sensitive. She hoped she wouldn't loose whatever she had eaten all over the floors. Of course, if she was moving that was a good thing despite her nausea. Had they stuck around Kämpher any longer she would have lost her red blood to the floors- and other strangers she didn't know.

Hands reached up and shoved her through a hole and onto a seat. Her back thudded against the wall, knocking the breath out of her. Trying to suck in oxygen, she barely managed to hear the Professor instruct Tres to press a certain button. The seat under her shuddered and lurched slightly, as if it couldn't wait to break free.

The two men climbed in and a whoosh, followed by an air locking sound reached her ears. Her voice trembled, "Um… what was-"

Suddenly, the little space she was in was catapulted like a slingshot from whatever it was attached to. Screaming, she doubled over, trying to keep herself from being thrown around. Then, as if a ride had been over, the acceleration stopped. Because of stupid kinetic energy, her body had to keep moving which sent her face forward into the wall two feet across from her.

She couldn't see, she had just gone on the most gut-wrenching little spin and her whole right side was plastered to a wall. But none of it mattered as soon as she felt Tres pull her back and into her seat.

"Tres…" Zelda murmured and fell back against his dense shoulder. Even if she had her sight, she wouldn't have been able to see him because she closed her eyes happily.

"Ahem," William coughed, embarrassed by the third wheel rank he slipped into. "Well… I suppose I should ask you how you managed to stay alive in the Orden."

Fire assaulted her cheeks. Turning away from them, she covered her mouth but knew they could see the blush. "Um… I… I-I…" she swallowed with difficulty.

"Did you lie?"

"Like a rug," she admitted that part and hoped they would leave it like that.

"But you're a bad liar."

"…" She hoped blinking might do the trick, so she blinked innocence.

Of course Tres spoke, he wouldn't have understood the blinking-to-get-out-of-a-tight-situation. "What did you say?"

"I… I… uh, told him… that… I was his number one fan," she choked out.

The Professor scoffed, "Is that all? Why were you so upset? Although…" He began to rethink the matter. "Why would they keep you alive if you were just a fan? Did you tell them anything else?"

Why couldn't he be like regular men and just except that? He happens to be the one in a million man that thinks more about what I say, she sighed mentally. Why bother evading the inevitable much longer? She wasn't a good at weaving stories nor did she like to, so she stopped dancing around the truth. "I… told him… I loved him and that I would stay by his side forever."

Silence met her words. Internally she cried, No!! Tres say something!! He probably is rethinking all the times I've said that to him. And he probably thinks that I spread my love around like cheap butter. She ached that she couldn't see his face, to see what he thought of this. It didn't sound too good though. Even William was quiet!

She spun around in her seat quickly and put her head in her arms. Even though her action might have looked strange, it helped her a little bit. "I'm sorry! What would you have done? He caught me looking in his room for the chip! I didn't know what to do." Softer she said, "All I could think about was Tres."

A few moments passed before she felt a solid hand rest on top of her head. In her arms, she smiled, glad that he had gotten over that. "Oh! Tres! Your guns are tied to my waist, can you get them for me? I can't exactly see them at the moment and if I were to accidentally shoot one…"

She didn't have to finish.

"Zelda, your sight will be back but the time we land," the Professor mentioned.

"Thank you. What did you throw, you know, earlier?"

He sucked in a proud breath and she knew what was coming. "It's one of my latest inventions. It causes temporary vision impairment in your enemies."

"So I suppose you and Tres can see?"

"No, Tres-kun can't see either. I had to lead him to the escape pods by holding his arm."

Her next question caught in her throat. He had been blind this whole time too? And yet, he never said a word. Even still, nothing.

William moved onto his next thought. "I wonder why you were able to fool Kain so easily. I also wonder why he and Isaak didn't react in time when you took the chip out of his pocket, grabbed Tres-kun's guns and were able to free him. Even more so when we escaped. Was it because… they wanted us to break him out? But why? Is it because… had we died, the other AX members would have come up here one by one and delay whatever plans they had? Tres-kun, do you know what they're planning to do next?"

No one spoke after he responded, "If Caterina-sama's plan failed, Kain would eliminate the Empress himself."