"Why- won't- the- radio- work?!" Zelda smashed the two-way repeatedly against the side of the escape pod in frustration. They had landed in some forest-like area somewhere on Earth and had been trying to contact the others for the past two hours.

Tres put a hand on her shoulder, calming her down. She exhaled slowly and asked the inevitable question, "So… what do we do now?"

"…Let's gather some wood and moss to start a fire for now. We'll just have to think of something afterwards," Professor answered as best as he could. "Tres and I will go find sticks, you stay here and keep trying for a response."

She caught Tres' eye but he looked away quickly and followed William. She let her forehead fall to meet the patched earth with a thump, followed by the rest of her body.. Everything was still so… raw between them and it wasn't helpful when he kept changing his stance every few seconds. One minute, he is comforting her and the next he's avoiding her. Sheesh, for a robot he was certainly high maintenance. Of course, he probably thought the same thing about her too.

Clicking down on the two-way's button, she started, "Anyone there? Hello? Hello? Hello? Someone answer. Please. We really need you to answer. Come in. Over. Roger. Roger. I don't even know what I'm saying. Hello? Someone pick up. Please. If you hear me, respond. Hello? He-"

Something stirred in the grass she was laying on. She nervously scanned it but found nothing. After a minute she continued, "Hello? Someone. Anyone. Please answer me. No one is answering. Do you all hate me? Tres hasn't spoken to me since we escaped. He doesn't look at me. He must hate me. And that wouldn't be such a hard thing to believe, he's never verbally said that he loves me. Perhaps that's why he didn't mind shooting me. What if-"

She felt something brush her ear. Startled, she turned her head sideways to stare into the dark, shining eyes of a snake. Unconsciously she screamed, empting her lungs of precious air. His jaw dropped in a hiss, revealing sharp, thin fangs. Moving cautiously now, she tried to put some distance between them, but he hissed once more and recoiled into a defensive position. She waited for a few, long moments before tying to back away again but this time he lashed out. He caught her on the cheek briefly and before she could blink in shock, he was coiled again.

Two narrow lines of warm blood traced from the wound to her jaw. Her breathing ceased in attempt to stay still. She wondered if she were to close her eyes, he would stop finding her a threat and move on. Yet as she tried that, he struck at her again. This time, hitting her less than an inch lower from his previous strike.

Two shots rang out, killing the little serpent instantly and accurately. Zelda lifted her head, seeing her former partner lower his slightly smoking gun and advance towards her. Although Tres was short, to Zelda- who was lying on the ground- he seemed intimidating and just a bit scary. He stopped his stride when he reached her and knelt down.

Unexpectedly, he hugged her- something he had never truly done before. "Negative. I don't hate you," he said as he pressed her face into his shoulder.

Her eyes widened. "You.. how? How did you hear that?"

"William Wordsworth once installed a two-way of that frequency in me."

"…" She made note to have a little chat with the Professor later about what all was in Tres.

"Damage report," he noticed the double twin puncture wounds on her face.

She shook her head. "It must have been a dry bite. Don't worry. I don't really care about it right now." She hugged him back.

"… Zelda Bäcker. I-" She swayed before going limp in his arms. "Damage Report, Zelda Bäcker. … Zelda."

Everything was progressively becoming distorted. Tres' voice had a strange echo to it and the world phased and warped at odd times. This poison… is… unreal… she thought her last coherent thought.

Overhead a large dark object floated above the trees. Its red insignia was painted brightly on the side although nobody had to guess who it was. Leon's rather annoying, taunting voice boomed over a loud speaker, "Does anyone need a ride?"

---

Still a bit unbalanced after the snakebite, Zelda ran down an endless, winding, eerie staircase. Although she shouldn't be here after only receiving the antidote a few hours ago, she had convinced Sister Kate that she was fine. She wanted to protect the Empress as best as her body and mind would allow her.

"Where would Kain lure her anyway? She can't be that dumb if she's survived for who knows how long," Dandelion asked while the entire AX- save for Abel- was in a group discussion and planning session.

Caterina hesitated before speaking, "…I know a place. It… was a tomb for another Crusnik. Abel would go there to mourn and… try to bring her back to life. That's the only place that I can think of. I doubt the Empress would know of its location but with her brother out specifically for her blood…there are ways to tell her without arousing suspicion."

"Caterina, you and William stay aboard during the fight. The rest of us will protect the Empress," Vaclav said.

"Yes," Hughe nodded.

"Absolutely," Zelda smiled weakly.

The others immediately rose up an argument. "No way, you…"

All of that disappeared from her mind as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "The… Empress?!!!" She whispered and clutched at the necklace under her dress. Seth Nightlord lay face down- ebony silk hair scattered, pale moonlight skin dirtied- in a pool of blood. Her emerald clothes were stained garnet, her lifeblood spilt over the cold stones in the floor.

Kain took another step towards his sister, "We both know you won't die so easily." He held up his hand. Zelda didn't know what he was doing but she suspected he was going to finish killing her. Overcome with the need to save, she darted in between them just as an explosive blast of air erupted from his hand.