"We're being spied on?" Krys exclaimed. "As in like, people looking in our room and listening to our conversations?"

"That would be correct," Regal said.

"Eww! I hope this guy's not a pervert…"

"Regal," Raine said. "How did you find this information out?" she stared at him, looking for a lot of answers.

"Well," Regal said with no hesitation. Presea wondered if he was going to tell the truth, or come up with a lie about walking outside to find a spy. Presea forced that thought out of her head. Why would he hide that he had to talk to her? There was no reason to deny regular talking… "Last night sleep would not come, and I decided to take a walk, and when I return I saw a shadow hiding in the corner. To confirm my suspicions, I heard a cough that was male. Since Lloyd, Zelos and I are the only ones here that are male and it did not sound like any of those three, I knew we were being spied on." To Presea, it was obvious he was lying. She could tell from the way he would pause between sentences. I wonder if the others noticed his hesitation. she wondered.

"What a LAME story!" Krys yelled. "C'mon, buddy it's obvious you're lying. Maybe you're the spy, and you're just giving us a clue so that we can fall into a trap? C'mon, Regal. We want the truth."

"That is the truth," Regal said. Presea was shocked. She had never thought of Regal to be the type of person who lied without so much as a care.

"I hate to say this, but I think you're lying too, Regal." Zelos said, his arm around Colette's shoulder.

"Fine," Regal said with a heavy sigh. "Yesterday, Presea and I went to the Iselia Forest to train. I…forgot that she wasn't exactly the most normal girl, and I went merciless on her, expecting her to as well. That is how we had trained before. But, she barely attacked me, and I went merciless. So, I resigned and worried that I had hurt Presea. So, later, when everyone was asleep, we walked outside and I asked for her forgiveness. On the way back, I noticed the figure standing in the corner, thinking it was a fellow traveler. But I could see his eyes. His eyes were cold, dark. I could tell he was not a normal traveler if he even was a traveler. Then he coughed, and gave away his location. He is obviously not the best spy, but a spy nonetheless." Presea could tell this time that Regal was telling the truth. One, because she recognized the story, and two, she could sense honesty in his tone of voice. She smiled. This was the Regal she knew. But one thought was driving her crazy.

Why had he lied in the first place?

"See that wasn't so hard, was it Regal?" Krys said with a smile and a small elbow nudge. "I think someone has a little crush on Presea…" Regal clenched his teeth, and did no reply. A slightly angry look was on his face.

"My feelings…towards Presea are not of your business." Regal said. "I believe we should return to Iselia." he said, clearly stating that he wanted to change the subject from his love life. "Who knows when Dessara could attack next? For all we know, they could be attacking now."

"I agree with Regal." Raine said, standing up and dusting off her coat.

"Yeah, lets go." Lloyd said. "We don't want anymore people to be taken away by that damn Nobuhiro."

"I don't think Nobuhiro is behind all of this," Presea said, speaking for the first time in a little bit. "I think he's just a pawn. He's too weak to be the organizer of something like this. I would believe it could maybe be some remnant of the Desians."

"But we destroyed the Desians," Lloyd said.

"Exactly," Presea said. "Either this is a completely new kind of enemy, or one of the Desians we fought didn't die."

"I think it would be a new enemy," Regal said. "I'm sure the Desians are dead." Presea followed Krys out of the room, and out of the inn. It was a busy day in Triet, many people bustled around shopping and doing the things that life demanded them to. The group exited the town and headed for the village of Iselia. After a few minutes of silence, Zelos piped up.

"Okay, since we have a new member of our group, I do believe its time I give Krys a nickname!" He smiled, and everyone sighed heavily.

"Not this again," Raine said with a heavy sigh.

"How about we call Krystal the super sexy lingerie model! I mean, with that kind of body, and that particular shirt, she looks just like a model!" Zelos grinned wildly, as his eyes turned into hearts.

"Uhh, thanks but no…Zelos was it? You can just call me Krys."

"Awww," Zelos said, lowering his head and dragging his feet as he walked. "Can't I just call you sexy Krys?" Krys blushed.

"Uh, no."

"Zelos," Raine said with a sigh. "Leave her alone. If she doesn't want a nickname, don't give her a nickname."

"Fine." he said. The conversation ended, and they had arrived in Iselia. Everything seemed to be fine, no one was missing. The streets were bustling with children playing tag and adults scolding them for running around recklessly and running into people.

"We should return to Lloyd's home," Regal said. "This place is in no danger… for the moment."


Two days had passed, and still nothing had happened in Iselia. Presea was beginning to wonder if Dessara would even attack the village. The axman, along with Krys, stepped out for a walk around Iselia on the third day. The two had become good friends- they had fought against each other for hours and talked late into the night. Soon Presea had almost mastered the feeling of her new axe. In fact, training was the reason that the two had gone into Iselia. Earlier, Krys had shot a bolt at Presea at rocket speed, and it had hit Presea in the arm. The wound was deep, and Lloyd was all out of apple gels.

Every day, someone was sent to watch the city for anything suspicious. Today, Zelos was on patrol. "Well hello, ladies." he said as Presea and Krys stepped through the gates. "Did you miss me?"

"We came for apple gels, Zelos." Krys said, glaring at him. "Presea's hurt."

"Presea's hurt! I'll heal you, my darling! Heal you with love."

"C'mon, Presea." Krys said, dragging Presea into the shop. Presea purchased a few apple gels, and walked out of the store. She rubbed the gel over the wound, and instantly she felt a wave of relief sweep over her body.

That's when she saw it.

It was a shadow, hiding in the corner of Raine and Genis's burned down house, obviously not wanting to be seen.

"Krystal," Presea whispered to the other girl. She stopped, and turned around.

"What is it, Presea?" she said, a look of concern on her face. "Is it your wound?" Presea shook her head and indicated the burnt down house and the stranger lurking inside it.

"It's time. They're here." Krys instantly understood, and noticed the figure. She ran over to Zelos and whispered inaudible words in his ears. He nodded, and ran out of the city and into the forest. Presea readied her axe, and Krys drew two knives from one of her belts, one for each hand. They started off down the path towards the Professor's old house, weapons concealed behind their backs.

I hope Zelos comes with everyone else soon, thought Presea.

"Presea, how nice to see you again." the cold voice jolted Presea away from her memories. It had been Nobuhiro that was standing in the shadows.

"Presea, you know this guy?" Krys said from beside her.

"He was the one who kidnapped me in the first place." Presea explained.

"I didn't think that you would make it out of the base in Triet. But, I guess I underestimated you didn't I?" he smiled, and looked over at Krys who had both blades of her knives pointed at the man. "And who's this? A new friend, huh?"

Nobuhiro drew out a long sword, the blade gleaming in the sunlight. Presea gripped the handle of her axe, prepared to give the fight her all.

"You might want to use your crossbow, Krys," Presea said from the side of her mouth. "This is no weak foe." Krys nodded, and placed the knives back in their sheaves on her white belt. She pulled her crossbow off her belt, and loaded it to the maximum amount of bolts. Nobuhiro began to run. He first backed up, and then ran in a circle around Presea, so fast he was only a black blur in her vision. Her heart pounded as she started to turn, too late.

"I won't hold back this time, Presea." He grabbed onto both of her hands with his left hand, and raised the blade to her neck with his right. The blade brushed across her neck- it was cold enough to make her shiver. Nobuhiro laughed at her reaction. "There are more of us, Presea." he said. "Lots more. And most of them are hiding in this village. Even if you defeat me, there are more." he grinned, and pressed the blade to her neck. Pain. She felt the blood drip down on her dress.

"Leave her alone, bastard!" Krys yelled. She pulled the trigger of the crossbow, sending a bolt speeding at Nobuhiro's side. Before he even saw the bolt be released from the crossbow, Nobuhiro doubled over in pain, clutching his side in pain.

"...d-damn..." he muttered as Presea scrambled away, readying her axe as she glared at the Dessara agent.

"Presea, are you okay?" Krys called. Presea nodded, and placed her hand on the back of her neck. It had stopped bleeding. Krys came to her side, and handed her an apple gel. She placed it over the cut, and the pain disappeared instantly. Nearby, Nobuhiro had stood up and was coming at them at full throttle. Presea, seeing him coming this time, hopped over to a nearby building so that her back could be facing a wall.

Krys stayed put, her face blank as she waited, letting the seconds tick by. When the Dessara man was almost on top of her, she whipped out her crossbow, fast as thought, squeezing hard on the trigger and aiming straight for his chest. But Nobuhiro wasn't going to fall for that. As the bolt flew from the crossbow he moved to the left, and dodged the attack. He stopped in his tracks and brushed a strand of blue-purple hair out of his eyes. He raised the sword in the air, blocking the bolt that had been shot at him. Nobuhiro smiled, and ran towards Krys, a hunter out to catch prey. Krys reacted quickly and drew a knife from her belt as he swung the sword. She raised the knife up just in time, and both blades had impact. Cling! Krys and Nobuhiro were flung slightly backwards.

Presea ran towards Nobuhiro, preparing to strike. She raised the axe in the air, and swung down in a curved shape, almost like a crescent moon. The cut broke the armor surrounding his chest, and Presea attacked again, actually implicating damage now. Blood began to fall from the wound. Krys followed up with the attack by shooting three bolts at the man. One hit in the center of his chest, and the others in his shoulders.

"Gack…" Nobuhiro said, gagging. Presea swung her axe again the moon shape, completely shattering the armor. Presea turned her head and smiled at Krys. They were winning. Nobuhiro pulled the bolts out of his chest, and he fell to the ground, doubled over in pain. Nobuhiro was going to die soon. Very soon.

Krys aimed her crossbow at Nobuhiro's chest. This would be the last shot.

"I don't like wasting this," Krys said. "But I want this guy to die." she pulled a bolt off of her belt. Something looked different about it, but Presea couldn't place what it was. Krys loaded the bolt onto the crossbow, and perfected her aim. If her accuracy was dead on, the bolt would go straight through Nobuhiro's heart. He was going to die anyways, so why not make it a quick death?

Krys placed her finger on the trigger and pulled. The bolt flew off the crossbow, straight into Nobuhiro's chest.

"Ahhh," he said, falling even lower to the ground. "So this is how it will end. Too bad that the Master wouldn't listen to me." He paused for a moment, as the specialty of the bolt sunk in. "What…what the hell? What is this?" he screamed in terror, and fell onto the ground. A puddle of crimson began to form under his body and he started to convulse. It only lasted for a few seconds, though, because then he lay still. Dead.

"What was that?" Presea asked, turning to Krys.

Krys paused for a moment, looking down at her enemy sprawled on the floor, completely undignified. Surprising Presea, she bent down and straightened him up, crossing his arms over his chest and placing two fingers over his eyelids, closing them in a sign of respect. "That, Presea, was a poison bolt. The tip is equipped with the poison, which just happens to be the fastest reacting poison in the world. Nobuhiro would've been dead in just about the same time as this, even if he wasn't injured."

"That's amazing," Presea said. She smiled again at Krys, and heard a voice from behind her.

"Presea! Krys! What's happening?" It was Lloyd. Following him was Zelos, Regal, Raine, and Colette.

"Presea, are you all right?" Regal said, standing beside the small girl who was only now about two feet shorter than him.

"Yes, I'm fine." Presea replied. "Be alert, everyone. Nobuhiro said that others were around. We need to be cautious. They could be anywhere around here." Everyone nodded. At that moment, shadows formed from behind the group.

Presea whipped around to find about thirty men in armor similar to Nobuhiro's standing behind them, all of them with drawn weapons. Presea was ready to fight them. She doubted they were as strong as Nobuhiro was. From beside her, Lloyd and Zelos drew their swords, Regal made sure his greaves were attached correctly, Colette grabbed onto her rings, and Raine readied her staff for healing.

"Go!" Presea said, raising the axe above her head and swing down quickly, killing a guard. She swung the axe again, and knocked another off his feet. Around her, the guards were falling to the ground quickly. Blood splattered onto Presea's dress, and she frowned. Another guard fell by the power of her axe, and she swung around backwards, killing off another. She looked around. Only a few of them were left. Presea watched with a small grin as Krys pulled the trigger of her crossbow and killed the remaining guards.

They had won the battle.

"Healing circle!" the Professor yelled, and a blue circle appeared over Presea's head. Everyone ran quickly into the circle, and watched their wounds disappear. As the circle faded, the talking began.

"I think this time now would be a perfect chance to invade the Dessara HQ," Regal suggested. "We could steal the clothes of these guards and pretend that some of you are villagers." Presea agreed with Regal's plan. Dessara was probably expecting some kind of prisoners, and this would be a good opportunity for them to learn some more secrets of the organization.

"Just like we did back on the Journey of Regeneration…" Lloyd said. It was obvious that he had figured out that Sheena clearly wasn't coming back. He was lost in his memories, a place happier than Iselia for the moment.

"I think we should do that," Raine said. She picked up a pair of black clothes from the ground. "Let's go back to Lloyd's house and rest for the night, thought."

"Yeah," Lloyd said. He started to walk towards the gate to the forest, and was instantly followed by the rest of the group.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," Krys said. "I need to buy some new bolts for my crossbow and talk to the villagers about burying these guys." Krystal turned away from the ground, her brown hair swaying with the new wind that had picked up after the fight. The smell of blood now scented the city.

"But you already have some bolts…." Lloyd said.

"Krys?" Presea called, stopping in her tracks. Krys ignored Presea, stepping into the rebuilt item shop.

"Come on, Presea." Raine called. "It's getting cold. We shouldn't worry about her, she'll be fine on her own. She wields that crossbow excellently."
"I guess you're right," Presea said, and followed Raine out the gates of Iselia.


Krys stepped into the weapon shop, and purchased the new bolts for the crossbow quickly. She stared around the shop, realized the coast was clear, and stepped back outside. Now she just had to get to Lloyd's house, and she would be fine. She started down the path to the gates, when a pair of cold hands clamped over her mouth, making her scream inaudible. The hands let go, and Krystal whipped around to see a face she never wanted to see again.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. "You said you would leave me alone!"

"Yeah, well that changed," the stranger said. The upper half of his head was covered by a hood, but Krys was happy. This way she couldn't see his eyes. Those killing eyes… "I need you to come to the Sylvarant Base," he said. His voice was cold. Every time he spoke, it sent a chill down Krys's spine.

"What about?" Krys said. "I'm not coming if you don't tell me."

"Oh, you'll come." the stranger said, chuckling. Krys shivered. It wasn't just the wind that was causing her to shiver. "Otherwise you'll never figure out the truth about your parents."

"The truth?" Krys said, a look of fear and shock on her face. "What truth?" The stranger chuckled.

"Come to the base," he said, and disappeared into the shadows of the Iselia forest; into the night.


Presea wondered what was taking Krys so long. It had been almost an hour since she had departed. Presea was starting to worry. She was about to get up and go look for her, when the door opened and Krys stepped into the house, out of breath and panting. Her brown hair was clamped down onto her forehead, and she looked extremely scared.

"Krystal, what is the matter?" Regal asked. "Did something go wrong?" A look of concern was showing on Regal's face, which made Presea suddenly angry. Did Regal care about Krys more about her? Presea stopped herself from thinking about that. Why was she even thinking about that? And why did she even care that Regal cared more about another girl? She her sister's murderer. She shouldn't have even forgiven him, let alone let him take over her private thoughts.

"Everyone," Krys said with a sigh. "Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving. I don't know for how long, or if I'm even coming back, but I'm going."

"Why?" Presea asked. It seemed a shame that someone who had just joined the group had to leave already.

"I can't…tell you. Not yet, at least." she lowered her head. "Professor Sage, can I stay at your place tonight?" she asked. Raine nodded, and got up. "Come on, Presea. Goodnight everyone." Presea, Raine and Krys left the house and set off towards Iselia for the night, in the new house that the Sages had built after the journey.

Presea awoke to sunlight streaming through the closed curtains of the Sage house. She rose from the bed and stretched, then looked around the house. The Professor had gone out to get something, she had told Presea that last night. But Krys was already gone. Presea sighed.

She had forgotten to say goodbye.

A/N: Another long chapter...a little shorter than the last, but still long for me. Thats about it for me...thanks to Dragonwings144 and phantom4angel for reviewing!