Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not even words.

Max: Heeeeelllooooo! Peoples of teh unda world! Hows ya doin'? Ohhhhhh! There's teh Capin' Jack Sparra! Heyyyyy! Capin'! I gots a jar 'o' dirt! And guess what's inside it!

Me: Ooo-Kay. Sorry 'bout that. To make sure Max didn't put me back with the men in white, I had to hit him to try and make him forget. But... it didn't really go as planned. See, I think I, uh … broke him in some kind of way. Heheh. .'' How am I gonna explain this to mom?...

Eli: Ohhhh! Ohhh! Ohhh! Pick me, pick me!

Cameron: Yeah! Pick him.

Me: Sure go ahead, hyper-boy-who-no-one-is-supposed-to-give-sugar-but-do-anyway. There's no way in Hell I'm gonna ask how they got here. If there's one thing I've learned in my short life, it's never, on god's green Earth, under any circumstances, am I to ask Cameron or Colton anything. They might just tell you. Same goes for Eli, only sometimes though

Eli: Yeah, you could ship him off to Mexico and say it was an accident.

Cameron: Duh, Eli! How'd ya think I got my mom to not give me my medication?

Me: I didn't know you took medication.

Cameron: …Shifty eyes I don't…

Eli: Ah, Shit.

Me: Crap… Run! Run away! (Cupcakes for anyone who can recognize that quote! If you can't… You're a RETARD! No offence.)

After running nearly a mile and a half without stopping, Ienzo finally came to rest at the edge of a small clearing. The small boy sat beneath a large tree for a moments rest to catch his breath. Ahead, there was a large area full of nothing but what seemed to be miles of dead brown/yellow grass that nearly went up to his chin. Somewhere along the middle, you could hear what seemed to be noises of what was most likely to be a stream. Off in the distance, you could see the outline of a forested area a little ways away. He was nearly there.

Dashing off again, he ran into the long grass, bits and pieces of it sticking to his shoes. Once he was around the middle, the noises of a stream seemed to grow louder. He came to slow in front of a stream, no more than 9 inches deep in the deepest parts. Most of it just barley glided over small rocks at the bottom. Closing his eyes, he calmly stepped forward through the water, as he walked through the suddenly silent path. Now, most people would just jump over the steam and keep on walking (though most people don't get even near the clearing) Ienzo Hikari/Highwind was not most people. In reality, he should have just been able to walk through the water with nothing happening.

Only, that wouldn't make much of a story… would it?

Instead, as soon as he got to the other side of that seemingly normal stream (Key word: seemingly) a ripple appeared in front of him as his arm touched a space where nothing but air seemed to be. The bluenette smiled as he felt the ripple surge through his body and the field around him. He continued to walk forward, his body disappearing as the air rippled like a stone being thrown in a pond. Once he was gone, the field went back to having a calm feeling that was soothing, but if you went too far, felt suffocating and dangerous.

Somewhere in a book shop 7 bocks away, Kairi felt chills go up her spine.

Lumaria looked up from attempting, and failing, to keep his rose garden alive. He looked around at Myde, who was munching on Sea-Salt ice cream, and Lea, who was setting leaves on fire that made pink smoke. Myde stopped eating Ice cream long enough to see Lumaria looking around like he was expecting someone to pop out of the bushes or something.

"Hey, Lu, what's wrong?"

Lumaria stared at him like he was Radiant Garden's village idiot and he just discovered a cure to Cancer.

"Didn't you feel that?" He asked slowly.

"Feel what?" Myde asked quizzedly.

Lumaria just shook his head and muttered "Never mind…"

Lea, who was oblivious to the whole this, ran out of leaves to burn (Myde and Lumaria were sure it was crack or something) decided to start a conversation.

"Hey, you guys know what I really hated about this week?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued. "Everyone keeps saying that I was the one who set the school on fire and burned it down." He said it like it was the hardest thing in the world to believe. Like Lareene wearing a frilly dress and bringing world peace or Cid not swearing. It just couldn't happen, no matter what!

"Lea…" Myde asked slowly, raising an eyebrow and scooting away from said pyromaniac. "You wherethe one who burned down the school."

Lea shrugged. "Well, yeah, but still! It's rude."

Lumaria shook his head, surprised Lea hadn't won the village idiot roll of the town yet. It just might be because they didn't have a village idiot, but really! Why wasn't he the village idiot!?

Ienzo stepped out of another ripple in the air, in a forest, and opened his eyes. It was very dark and very little light came through the thick canopy above. The forest was thick and anyone would easily get lost if they didn't know where they were going. Well, no one really had to worry about getting lost because no one had gone into this forest since his mom went and… That was a story for another time. Sorry. I got off track. Giant trees and flowers surrounded him from all angles. There were so many it would take over 1,000 years to even identify half of them. It was beautiful but at the same time reminded anyone who saw it that beauty was dangerous and, usually, deadly.

The 12 year old dashed off in a direction he knew would lead him to the right place. He knew where to go because his mother used to bring him here all the time when he was little. He had a photographic memory so he remembered the way, even though the last time he'd been here, he was 3. After running for a minute, he realized he was still exhausted from running earlier so he slowed down to a walk while he hummed the song God's Will by Martina McBride. It was a good hour (Give or take 15 minutes) before he realized the forest was getting lighter up ahead. Ienzo smirked. He was close. He took off in a run for (what he hoped would be) the last time that day.

The boy darted through the bright light ahead of him and saw the area untouched, just as he remembered as a small child. This part of the forest was much different than the other. Large blue flowers hung like lamps around, illuminating the area. A pond that shimmered and sparkled sat the middle of the clearing. In the center of the pond were 2 flat rocks, one sea-fome and the other an orange-yellow. They looked like a summoning circle out of a movie.

He slowly made his way over to the edge of the pond. Once there, he knelt down and searched around on the ground, as if searching for a switch of some sort. Apparently, he had found it because he smiled and pushed on a spot next to a large bolder. As he pulled his hand up, the spot he had pushed down on sank down into the earth about 5 inches. That seemed to trigger something, for stepping stones rose up from under the water, leading to the odd colored rocks. Ienzo stood up and whipped the dirt from his hands and pants. He giggled softly as he hopped from one stone to the other as he remembered doing as a small child, grasping his mother's hand. But, that was then and this was now. All in the past and what-not.

He posed (sp?) at the fork in the rocks. 3 stones to the left would bring him to the sea-fome rock and 3 stones to the right would bring him to the orange-yellow rock. Deciding to go to the sea-fome rock first, he hopped on the stones to the left, stumbling slightly on the wet stones. He knelt down next to the sea-fome rock and dug around in his shirt. Finally, he pulled out his necklace, the sun and crescent moon one his mother had given him. He held one hand on the moon and one on the sun, and pulled hard. The two items broke apart with very little force. Ienzo felt a tinge of sadness about the necklace but brushed it off, for he knew if the pieces were close enough, they would snap back to gather. He placed the crescent moon in the center of the sea-fome rock and did the same with the orange-yellow rock and the sun. He hopped back to the dry land before spinning on his heel and pulling a silver whistle out of his tiny pouch light brown he kept on his neck that he kept the precious this of his life in. It looked small but was much bigger on the inside. He even put his necklace in there. It was never out of eyesight. Anyway, he put the silver whistle up to his lips and sucked in a deep breath and blew hard for several seconds. He pulled back and smiled as two large puffs of smoke erupted from the colored rocks (That were the same color as the rock it came from) and he made out two tall figures standing in the middle of it.

"Long time no see…"

Lumaria snapped his head up from lying on his bed daydreaming. Lea and Myde were hacking into a database. Whose database it was, Lumaria didn't know but they did say something about government funding. Oh well. Oh, and if you're wondering why they know how to hack, Cid said Ienzo needed a hobby so he learned and taught the other 4. (Lareene, Lumaria, Myde, Lea) No one told anyone that they knew how to for 2 reasons.

1. It was illegal. Not that they really listened anyway 'cause they were preteens and never obeyed the law. (Well, Myde and Ienzo were pre-teens. Lea and Lumaria already had birthdays. Myde's would be on December 31. Lea's was July 4th. Lumaria's was on St. Patricks Day. When is that anyway? I already told you Ienzo's B-day)

2. No one bothered to ask… Duh!

Anyway, Lumaria was getting slightly annoyed that he kept feeling something and neither of the others noticed.

"Can't you guys feel that!?" He asked, anger slightly in his voice.

"Feel what?" Lea questioned not looking up from the computer screen, typing away with Myde.

"Ugh! Forget it!" Lumaria sighed, exasperated as he sank back onto his bed.

Standing in the place of the sea-fome green rock, floating on the water, was a very pretty woman dressed in a wavy sky blue dress that went down to her ankles on one side and stopped at her thighs on the other side. A blue veil connected from the straps on her arms twisting around her arm and finally ending by wrapping around her wrist, which you couldn't see because pure white gloves covered that part. On the edges of the gloves was a small angel wings on each side. She wore glass slippers on her feet that shinned and sparkled in the light. Her hair was a sea-fome green tied in buns on both sides of her head. Her skin was creamy, pale, perfect, and shinned like the moon as her eyes reflected understanding of the world, which was slightly odd because even though see could see, her eyes were pure white with no pupil. Instead of looking freaky because of it, she actually seemed more beautiful than before. She was about 18

In the place of the orange-yellow rock, standing on the water, was a woman with long, flowing blond hair (which was really yellow) that reached some past her shoulders (and it covered part of her face and either got more in the way or out when she moved) that had bits of orange, red, and brown strands mixed in. Her skin had a slight tan and freckles ran across her nose as she stood with her hands on her hips. She had an hour-glass figure like the first woman. Her eyes were light brown. The woman wore a yellow tank-top with the words I'm an angel, really on the front with a halo above the words. Though, on the back of the shirt were a pair of pitch black angel wings which were being spray painted white by a monkey and toward the bottom was a picture of a small demon tail, which was slightly cute. She also wore an orange mini-skirt (think of a catholic private school skirt, only on orange) that was only as long as a mini-skirt could go. She had on yellow flip-flops, ruby red lips, and a mischievous glint twinkled in her eyes. She was about 16.

"Yeah…" Ienzo responded, all evidence of ignorance gone, staring at the women with utter seriousness. "It has been a long time. Nearly… what? 4, 5 years?"

The bond one giggled, bringing on hand to her mouth. "Yep! Just about 5 years. Ohhh!" The girl made a large leap in the air landing next to Ienzo. As she landed she spun quickly and brought her face only centimeters apart from the others. All within a split second. Ienzo didn't even bat an eye. Now, usually, to the human eye, no one would be able to see these Goddesses, non-the-less watch the girl move that fast. Then again, Ienzo wasn't completely human.

"Wow. You got better at tracking, didn't you? I remember when you were this small;" She leaned back from him and held her hand to about her waist. "You always got sooooo startled. You'd jump about 3 feet in the air! I also remember when you were just a baby too. You were quite small for your age…"

Ienzo giggled a bit. "You know that wasn't my fault, Hannah. I was born premature! And by 3 months! I was lucky to be alive."

"Well I guess… Zoey." The girl, Hannah, said with a smirk on her face.

"I told you not to call me Zoey! Either call me by my name or Zo or something else but don't make my name a girl one! I look girly enough as it is." Ienzo called out.

Hannah huffed. "Fine, be a spoil sport."

"…"

"Zoey…" She whispered, barley audible, with a smirk.

"I heard that! Why I oughta-" He was cut off by the other woman clearing her voice loudly. In all their fun they had forgotten she was there.

"Sorry, sis. Forgot ya were there." Muttered Hannah, grinning sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

"Yeah, sorry Lily." Ienzo added, looking equally guilty.

"It's alright." Lily spoke. "Now, Ienzo, you can here about the Soul Eater, no?"

"Yeah, how did you…" Ienzo spoke confused.

"Why, Dear, I know everything as important as those things, and unimportant as other things, that go on. We've also been watching you. What kind of a god-mother would I be if I didn't?" Lily said with a smile.

"I guess so. But…" Ienzo took a deep breath. "How do we get rid of the Soul Eater? I mean, I though they were extinct! There hasn't been one for nearly 9 years? Why is it back, especially in Radiant Garden, a place where just about no magic or magical things are, except me and my things? And even those are few!" Ienzo said franticly.

Lily sighed; she had braced her self for the young boys hyper spazzes. "Why its back, I can only guess for you. But you probably knew that, only wishing I had had a different answer. You wished I had a different answer, because if it really was for you, those deaths would be your fault." She said the last part causing Ienzo to shut his mouth and continue listening. "Well, it's not your fault, so don't blame yourself." Lily added, reassuringly. "Though, how it made its way to Radiant Garden… I think it has been saving power from souls for some years now."

"What about how to get rid of it?" Ienzo asked, wanting that thing to be gone ASAP!

Lily took a deep breath but hesitated. "I… do not know."

Ienzo bit his lip so hard it almost bled. Lily didn't know? But Lily always knew. If he didn't know, Hannah defiantly didn't know, and Lily didn't know, then there usually wasn't an answer. If there wasn't an answer, Radiant Garden and everything in it would be doomed. He couldn't let that happen! He just couldn't! Radiant Garden was his home, and had been for the past 5 (nearly 6) years! He loved the town and everything in it. Including the town's hobo, Chuck. Okay, so maybe not Chuck, but still! He couldn't let everyone die.

"Then… what… do I do now?" Ienzo asked slowly. He couldn't let everyone he cared about get hurt.

Lily opened her mouth to answer when a blood-curdling howl echoed through the forest. There was only one thing that could sound that terrifying. It was the…

"Soul Eater." Breathed Hannah. She had never seen one before and was quite surprised at how it sounded. She was also quite terrified. No evil being was able to come into the forest unless they were incredibly strong.

They all stood there for several seconds open shock to find out what had made his way to the Forest of Life. It was Ienzo that recovered first. He spun around looking horror struck.

"Don't just stand there! If he gets a hold of you he'll kill you for sure!" He yelled.

Hannah nodded and disappeared. In her place she left the sun piece that was used to summon her, which Ienzo quickly snatched up. Lily looked away from the entrance of the clearing long enough to say a few quick words.

"Be careful, and get out of here ASAP." Lily said those words before disappearing along with her sister, leaving the crescent moon piece in her place. Ienzo put the two together forming his necklace again, which he put in the small sack around his neck. He turned around and made for the entrance. He didn't get far before he was attacked by the raging beast called a Soul Eater.

He landed flat on his back with two large paws pining his arm above his head and the Soul Eaters head inches away from his face, its teeth bared and growling. It howled loudly before biting down on his shoulder. Thankfully, Ienzo's legs were free so he was able to kick the Demon in the stomach, roll away, and hop up to dash in some random direction. He could here the monster only a few yards behind him. He had long ago realized he had lost his way but didn't care. All that mattered right now was to GET THE HECK AWAY FROM THE SOUL SUCKING FREAKY-BEAST! The blue hared boy suddenly got an idea. He was surrounded by trees. If he could get far enough away, he could climb a tree and ditch the soul sucker behind him. He sped up as fast as he could, gaining a few yards of distance between the two. He finally decided that he was far enough away so he jumped up, while still running, and snatched a branch. Using his arm hurt but he bared it. Hey, if it was either get your soul sucked out and die or hurt his arm, he'd rather live. Ienzo pulled himself up and waited in the trees.

Below him, Ienzo could hear the rustling of the Soul Eater. It stayed under the area he was in sniffing until it decided he wasn't there and sped off. Ienzo listened to the fading footsteps and waited a few minutes before deciding to climb down. He was halfway there when the branch he had his foot on broke with a sickening crack!

"Ahh!" Ienzo fell a few feet, getting smacked around, scrapped, and hit by the branches in the process before finally getting caught on other branches. Ienzo felt nothing but pain on his head, other parts on his body too, but mostly his head. Though, that was probably because he felt something warm, wet, and sticky slide down his face. He guessed that he had hurt his left arm also from the pain it was admitting. He only hoped to whatever god was out there that the Soul Eater hadn't heard him. It was a 1 in 100 chance but he'll be damned to Hell and back before he'd let that…that… Thing get the best of him! Apparently luck was on his side, for he didn't hear anything around him. Ienzo didn't even want to open his eyes in fear of what he might see. After a minute of just hanging there, he decided that he couldn't just wait there all his life and attempted to climb the last few feet down.

(Key Word: attempted)

Ienzo cracked open his eyes and groped around before grabbing a branch and shakily making his way down, left arm hanging by his side. He only got a few inches down before the pain was too much and he fell to the ground, pain searing through his body, and bloodspraying from his mouth. The 12 year old groaned and rolled over as more blood made its way out of the boy's mouth.

'This is the end.' He thought as the edges of his vision blured and blackened. 'I'm gonna die here, in the Forest of Life. Ha!' Ienzo chuckled, which quickly turned into coughing up blood, the foul stuff. 'How ironic. Another thing, I always thought I was going to die when I was older, like 60, not 12. I'm not even a teen yet! I never even got to say how much I… loved…'. Ienzo didn't ever get to finish his thought before he passed out.

Lumaria gasped and looked around his room. Myde and Lea went home long ago and he'd fallen asleep. But more importantly, once again, he felt some chill go up his spine. Not like the chills he got before. No, these were different. He couldn't really describe it, but it was a type of chill you get when you know something bad just happened to someone you know somewhere and you dismiss it, only to find out something really terrible happened around that time that involved someone you cared about. Lumaria knew whatever the Hell just happened, it wasn't good. Lumaria knew that it was way past bad, in fact, it was just about the fucking worst thing that could possibly happen to someone he knew. In situations like these he did what he always did. He said the first thing that came to mind. Right now, that was only two simple words.

"Oh, fuck."

Yeeeaaahhh…I actually didn't expect some things to turn out like this. I mean, yeah I knew it would be slightly different than in my head but I had to change some drastic things. Well, for better or for worse, I finally finished it. That, my readers, is a miracle all its own. Soooo, anyway, what do you guys think? Good, bad, terrible?... Ya'know? This stuff sounds SO much better in my head.