Disclaimer: I do not own Avalon Code or its characters in any way.

This will be the last disclaimer… by now you should get that I don't own the game or anything to do with the game. Just this fanfiction, that is.

Aria's POV

"Oh, I'll give something to him all right!" Rempo shot forward, but was pulled back by an annoyed Neaki.

"(…idiot…)" He struggled for a moment more before finally giving up. Neaki pulled back and brushed herself off with a disgusted face in place.

"C'mon, Aria! Let's kick his-!"

"Rempo- calm down, will you?" He opened his mouth to say something, but I gave him a glare that said "say something again and I'll put shackles on your mouth." He sighed and shut up.

"Aria." I turned my head to Anwar, who had spoken. "I'll take him." I looked back over to the man, who just stood there staring, as if trying to hear our conversation.

"Be careful." He sent me a quick smirk.

"I always am."

Anwar shot forward; it was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it movement. He appeared behind the mysterious man, sword drawn and held high above his head. He swept his sword in a diagonal line, but the man disappeared. Anwar held his sword at the ground, not moving a muscle. He scanned the area with his eyes, trying to locate him. I unconsciously grabbed on tighter to the book. Anwar closed his eyes for a split moment, and then he opened them up and gasped, starting to run towards me.

Suddenly the man was feet away from me, sword in the air, and swiping downwards. I closed my eyes, screamed, and held my arms up, seeing as I didn't have any weapon.

I braced myself for impact, but it never came. I slowly opened one eye, and then both of my eyes shot open.

"Even I know that it is wrong to attack girls." Anwar was standing in front of me, using his giant sword as a shield for the two of us. The mysterious man shook his head and let out a heavy sigh.

"I really don't have time for this. Could you please hand over the Book of Prophecy?"

"Oh, since he said please, of course we- like hell we will!"

"Rempo, shut up. Aria, draw the Genesis." I nodded to Ur, and then pulled my sword out of the book. Anwar, seeming satisfied that I had a form of protection, put his weight against his sword and pushed the man back.

The scarred man stumbled backwards, losing his footing for a moment. Anwar took the opening to shoot forward after him and pin him to the ground. They both lost their swords, and now Anwar was holding him by his neck.

"Who are you? Who sent you?" demanded Anwar. The man choked, trying to get air.

"M-My name is…H-Heath." The glare in Anwar's eyes was filled with anger and malice, yet his face remained emotionless and cold.

"And who sent you?" Heath tried many times to loosen the grip on his neck, but Anwar wasn't allowing it.

"P-Prince…V-Valdo…"

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." There was a bloodlust in Anwar's voice that I hadn't heard before. I couldn't let him do it.

"Anwar, don't!" He didn't look away from the man's face. If anything, his grip tightened. "Anwar, stop!" I began to run towards them, and I could see that the man couldn't breathe, and that his face was turning an unnatural color. "ANWAR!" He blinked and loosened his grip for a moment, just enough time for Heath to catch his breath, but it was immediately put back in place.

"Anwar, stop this! I mean it!" I tried to remove his hands from Heath's neck, but he was just too strong. My eyes started to brim with tears as I tried something else.

I leaned up and kissed him.

His grip slowly loosened and he closed his eyes at equal speed. Seeing that Anwar was distracted, the scarred man scooted back. He didn't make any move to attack, but only stared at us.

I pulled back, and I felt my cheeks get warm when Anwar gave me a loving smile. He lifted a tan hand to wipe away a tear from my cheek. He seemed to remember the man all of a sudden, and turned towards him.

"You…" I cast him a quick glare.

"Augh… You're making this really hard for me to do. You guys look cute together." I blushed at the comment, and Anwar only nodded.

"I know. But that doesn't mean you can have the book." He sighed and stood up, taking his time to brush himself off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He gave a short bow. "You are an excellent fighter. We aren't done here. I wish to fight you again someday, but for now, I must take my leave." Before we could say anything, and quickly turned and ran. When he was out of sight, I turned to Anwar.

"What happened to you back there, Anwar?"He seemed a bit confused by my question. "You weren't… you."

"I'm sorry, Aria. If you do not want me to kill out of hate, I won't." I gave a quick chuckle at that, and stood up, pulling the swordsman up with me. "So where do we go from here?"

"Ur?" I turned to the lightning spirit, who was quiet in thought.

"Prince Valdo is the current host of Kullervo, and that man said that he was sent by the prince. Our only lead is to head in the direction we saw the man leave." I nodded and told Anwar what Ur had said.

"Seems like a good plan. Let's go."

Anwar's POV

We had been traveling all day and had stopped for the night. I helped Aria set up camp, and then she had fallen asleep.

I stared at her sleeping figure from behind the fire.

He cheeks were a light pink, a rose color maybe. Her lips were slightly parted, and her chest heaved up and down in a steady pattern.

I quietly got up to walk over to where she lay.

I brushed a stray hair out of her face, and a small smile appeared on her face. I mimicked the movement and sat down next to her. I left one of my hands to rest on her face, caressing it. She was just so beautiful.

"And you're mine…" I finished aloud.

As I said that, I felt a sharp pain on my left arm, almost as if I had been hit. I clutched it with my opposite hand, and looked around.

There wasn't anything there. I sighed and let out a laugh. I must be getting paranoid or something.

I leaned my hand back down and set it on her face. I traced her jaw line with the pad of my thumb, and slowly leaned my head in to place a kiss.

I was knocked back by what seemed to be an invisible force. I rubbed my sore nose, which had been hit.

"Who is there?"

…on Aria!

I froze. Had I heard someone?

"Will…Will you repeat that?" there was silence for a moment.

I said that I won't let you lay a finger on Aria!

"Who are you?" For a second, all I heard were crickets and the flicker of the fire. I watched in amazement as a small figure began to materialize right before my eyes.

"Nice work, Ur. The code worked." The small figure seemed to be a boy in scarlet clothes with horns. His arms were clad in iron shackles, and his hair was red and wild like a flame.

"Rempo…?" I stared in disbelief as the small figure grew into a full-sized person. Along with his size, his lips grew into a smirk.

"Can't say it's a pleasure meeting you, Anwar. But there are a few things that I want to make clear with you." I hesitated before asking what that was. "First of all, do not touch Aria in my presence. Secondly, you break her heart, I break your face. Thirdly, you protect her with all you've got. Promise me you will."

It was still hard to believe that the spirit was visible and speaking to me, and about Aria.

"Promise me." He gritted his teeth, and I nodded.

"I… I promise."

"Good. I'm glad we're clear on things. Now, if you wouldn't mind…" The fire spirit walked over to Aria's sleeping form and sat down next to her. The look he gave her was that of a lover's, and I couldn't help the pain that tugged at my newly awakened heart.

He was good to her.

Being a spirit, I'm sure that he can protect her better. He must be strong, seeing as he's one of the four spirits that guard the Book of Prophecy. He would always be with her, and he was with her before I even knew she existed. He had the emotions that I have yet to learn.

But I promised Aria.

I promised that I wouldn't let the fire spirit take her from me. I promised the red creature myself; I would take care of her.

"Just because I made you promise these things doesn't mean I've given up on her." I stared at the boy, and tried to remember if I had opened my mouth.

"I… I didn't say anything." He raised an eyebrow at this.

"What do you mean? Of course you did. You said that you promised Aria that you wouldn't let me take her from you, and that you even promised to me." My eyes widened even more if they could.

"Spirits can read minds…?" Rempo seemed just as surprised, and he muttered something to someone I couldn't see.

"Sweet, so I can read minds? What do you…? I can't?" He seemed disappointed about something, but I didn't know what. "Crap… no, I respect her privacy but I just wished that…"

"What are you talking about and to whom?" The horned boy turned angrily towards me.

"That's none of your business, now is it?" I gave him a glare of my own and turned away.

I scanned our surroundings, and made sure that no monsters were respawning anywhere. There weren't many trees, seeing that we were still in the fields.

Eventually, my eyes rested upon Aria.

Her little sighs that she gave off were calming, and her face looked pale, but pink on the cheeks from the fire. I guess you could say that she looked cute laying there.

"Hey, keep your thoughts to yourself." I glanced at the angered spirit, but my gaze fell back on the sleeping girl.

"Then stay out of them."

"I can't help it! Stop thinking and we won't have this problem!"

"I'm allowed to think of my own girl." Rempo shot up on this, but tried to remain quiet, unsuccessfully.

"Your girl?! When is she all of a sudden your girl?! You better watch that tongue of yours! Cats aren't the only creatures that steal them!"

"Be quiet or you'll wake her." He opened his mouth to say something, but almost immediately closed it. After a few times of repeating this process, he sighed and plopped back down.

"I really don't like you, you know?"

"Your opinion doesn't matter. The only one that does is Aria's." I could tell he was angry, but I was focused on her face so I didn't see.

He's probably mad because he knows that she loves me.

"Once she realizes how emotionless and a jerk you are, she'll come crying to me, her best friend!"

"Watch it, carrot-top. How would you like to meet the other Rempo?" He spat on the ground, which made a sizzling noise as it made contact with the ground.

"You're pathetic."

"And why is that?"

"You're an emotionless jerk who doesn't deserve her."

"What makes you think you deserve her?" I lifted my eyes to focus on his, which were filled with an emotion I couldn't identify.

"I never betrayed her."

My fist made contact with the earth as I whispered harshly, "I didn't do any of that! It was the curse!"

"Curse this, curse that; is that your excuse for everything?!" We stopped and turned to Aria, who made a face and turned over. We were silent for a moment and she settled back in and her sighs continued. "We'll finish this tomorrow, Bricky." I made a face at that.

"Glad to know you're sticking around." I angrily turned my head away from his and fell down onto my side. I closed my eyes, trying to rest.

…

What the heck does he mean by Bricky?

GASP! Heehee Anwar and Rempo finally meet! Haha, I had so much fun writing that :) Oh, and an extra long chapter for Neko-Lily! My chapters are normally around 1,000 words but this is 2,000! Still short, but… oh well! Thanks for the critique :D I'm an amateur writer so my battle scene sucks :'( I hope you understand.