Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Legendia…again

Chasing Despair: Will you Grant my Wish

Evil unmasked

RECAP: Jay's eyes widened and his dagger clashed to the ground. He took two steps away from the two standing in front of him as his jaw dropped open. Everyone starred blankly too and Jay uttered the name he wished would never define his enemy, "N-Norma?"

The girl turned her head to face Jay, who had just called out her name. She narrowed her eyebrows and muttered in a deep monotone, "I am sorry…but Norma Beatty is no longer a part of me…I am the Sovereign of Calamity, the envoy of eternal darkness." She began to wave her straw though the air in slow, deadly motions, "and now, you must die…" and with one final swish of her arms she called, "Dark Mirror!" Four mirrors surrounded the party, with the exception of Jay, who stood, starring dumbfounded at Norma. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger.

"You IDIOT!" he bellowed at Norma and stomped his foot on the ground, "What do you think you are doing!" But Norma seemed to not hear a word of what he was saying and continued to cast magic. Just as Jay was about to attack Norma he was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder. He jarred slightly at the touch but turned around to face Grune, who had her hand on his shoulder.

"You know this isn't like Norma, right?" She asked quietly so Norma couldn't hear. But despite her efforts, Norma turned to face Jay and Grune. Her tattoo began to glow and she scowled, closing in the mirrors that surrounded the party. The mirrors shattered, shards flying from every direction, causing Senel and the others to take severe damage. Shirley even collapsed to the ground. Norma sneered in pleasure at what she had just done and once again, Jay attempted to attack her, and once again he was stopped by Grune. Jay sighed in exasperation, but didn't force Grune away. Instead, he watched as Will rushed over to Shirley in an attempt to cure her.

But Norma would not let that happen and she casted a familiar spell, "TRACTOR BEAM!" the spring of light flew up from the ground and threw Will into the air. He hit the ground again with a loud thud as he twitched slightly, trying hard to get up.

Senel looked at his comrades on the ground and glared over a Norma with a hint of confusion, "Norma, this isn't funny!" he lowered his already angry glare into a scowl, "Stop being an idiot and come back!" Norma's face grew even more twisted and angry with Senel's words and stepped down from atop the steps, followed by Grune. Jay glanced at them and ran down the steps, standing next to Senel. Chloe, Moses and a very weak Will, joined them. Norma surveyed the group before speaking.

"Don't ever tell me what to do!" She hissed, as the room began to shake, "People like you have no right to speak to me."

Jay shrunk back and thought to himself (That did not sound at all like something Norma would say…what exactly is going on here?) He decided that Norma would answer that question right now as he opened his mouth, his voice shaking slightly, "Norma, what is your reason for this? For attacking your companions and injuring Shirley." He tried to keep his composure and look Norma straight in the eye but he couldn't. For some reason he felt…guilty, almost as if he already knew what Norma was going to say next. At the same time, he felt vulnerable to her. As if suddenly, after all these years, he felt weak.

Norma clenched her fists and the tattoo on her skin began to glow again, "How dare you call yourselves my comrades!" she stomped her foot on the ground and punched a nearby pillar, causing it to crack, "After everything you have done to me? You honestly think you are my friends?"

Jay stepped forward, "Norma-" he was interrupted by another burst of anger from the morose Norma standing in front of him, "Don't try to reason with me. All you ever do is chastise and scorn me! I may be childish but I am NOT stupid! I hear all…I know all." She formed a dark sphere in the palm of her hand and focused her mana into it to make it grow bigger.

Yes, fill your heart with resentment

Feed your hatred with the power of darkness…

Norma smirked angrily as shadows coated her face, "Now, I have no time for your sorry explanations!"

"Norma!" the group called out in unison. Jay took a few steps back and looked up at Norma with worry in his luminous violet eyes.

"Norma, we didn't mean any of it like that!"

"Sh-shut up!" the dark sphere grew bigger as Norma turned her head away from the others.

Jay held his position, unfazed by Norma's words. (Now is not the time to be weak…) he took one step forward and continued, "Are you going to let a few stupid mistakes we have made destroy everything else we have done together?"

Chloe joined him, "Do not forget everything we have accomplished, none of it could have been done without every member of our group being there."

"We would not have succeeded without any contribution you made," Jay added, feeling a strange sensation build up inside his chest. Why would he feel this way now? His body trembled slightly, but not enough for the others to see as they looked hopefully at Norma.

Norma staggered, clutching her dress. Slowly a white light enveloped her body and she whispered, "Really?"

"Yes," Will started, "Do not give in Norma!"

Do they really care?

Are they really worried?

I'm I making a mistake by doing this?

Should I go back?

Should I trust them?

I'm so confused!!

"NO!" A voice interrupted Norma's thoughts. Everyone else heard it too, because they looked around for the source of the voice, "Do not forget the pain Norma! The anguish, the suffering, the betrayal. You have been sold to me by their lack of caring! They are lying to you again! Do you really think that friends would allow you to fall this deep into despair? Wouldn't they see how you really feel?" Everyone turned to face the demon that turned Norma into the villain in front of them, "I am Desari, Ruler of the supreme darkness." She said more to Jay and the others than to Norma.

The light surrounding Norma fell as quickly as it came and her eyes faded back into the blank stare they were in. her obsidian hair fell back down to her hips and she looked to the ground, "Lady Dasari is right…" The dark sphere continued to grow once more.

Desari smirked triumphantly, "You are right Norma. This is your chance to kill them now!"

"Norma-" Jay started again but Norma was no longer listening. She lifted up the dark sphere and slammed it into the ground. But just as she did so, Grune came and interfered, putting up a large shield and protecting the party from damage.

"We need to get out of here!" Grune said as everyone disappeared from the Man-Eating ruins, leaving Norma and Desari alone.

"Ugh…" Norma moaned and shrunk down onto one knee, "I almost had them…"

Desari ignored Norma's complaint and looked in the direction of the exit, "It appears Grune too, is a traitor."

Norma gasped slightly and looked up, "Why?"

Desari shook her head in annoyance, "Did you not see her help the others?"

She was right, Grune had helped Jay and the others escape. Did that mean Grune was her enemy? Maybe the pain was worth it to be with them…Norma shook the idea from her head. Nothing was worth the suffering and sadness she felt around them, "Grune is my enemy now…" she whispered slightly hesitantly. Desari chuckled as if glad to see Norma suffering more. Norma was completely under Desari's control, "…" Norma looked blankly at the exit and shivered (Even though I am no longer part of their group, Jay didn't even seem to really want me back. I think in my heart, I kept hoping he would rescue me…but that is long gone. He didn't care, not at all. None of them did. They treated me like another monster.) A single tear fell from Norma's eyes.

"It's raining…" Jay complained inaudibly as a single drop of rain fell into the palm of his hand. He looked up at the sky as grey clouds formed over the sky, causing a melancholy overcast to spread for miles and miles. The young ninja clenched his fist where the raindrop had fallen, and almost as if the sky were angry at him for his actions back in the ruins, thousands of raindrops fell. The party sighed at the sudden yet inevitable change in the weather. Moses wiped some of the rain from his brow and turned to face Jay, who was lagging solemnly behind the party. The bandit frowned sympathetically at the troubled look on his friends face and walked back to Jay. The strategist glanced upwardly at Moses, trying to mask his sadness with a look of annoyance, but to no avail. Moses wasn't so stupid as to believe that something wasn't bothering his friend and after a few moments of silence, he broke the ice.

"Jay, you been mighty quiet back here. Wanna tell your bro what's wrong?" Moses asked, not that 'what's wrong?' was the appropriate question to ask, since him and everyone else knew what was wrong already, or at least knew it had something to do with Norma.

Jay narrowed his eyes lividly, "No, I don't," he hissed and picked up his sluggish pace to catch up with Senel and Grune at the front of the party. Moses slumped over in defeat as Jay began a conversation with Grune at the head of their little formation.

Finally, the group returned to Will's residence where Senel Harriet brought Shirley up to the bed in Harriet's room to rest. Chloe wrung her hair out over the sink and Moses sat down on the sofa, still slumped over and deep in thought. Will brought out the files he had from before and began to study them. Jay stood by watching the fog cover the window, shadowing out his view of the town. All that he could see were the misty lights from the closing shops and the other homes of Werites Beacon. The loud footsteps of Senel came clumping downs the stairs, followed by Harriet's dainty ones. The Alliance Marine paused and looked over at Jay solemnly. Harriet walked over to the window where Jay stood and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Jay," she started, sounding more serious then the usual loud and controlling Harriet, "You won't solve anything by standing there waiting."

Jay blinked, but didn't budge.

"Ya'know, she's right," Moses added in, attempting to once again, calm this brewing storm by taking some responsibility, "Ya'need to come talk to us and tell us everything you remember about your meeting with Bubbles last night."

Jay averted his gaze over to Moses, unwilling to snap back at him with some stinging remark. He just raised an eyebrow. Senel mimicked Jay's movement of rolling his eyes and questioned Moses, "Why is that important?"

"Ah!" Grune jumped into the conversation, "I see the logic behind Moses' thinking."

"Well then, tell us!" Chloe sighed in slight exasperation.

"Jay was the last one of us to see Norma." Moses started, before Grune cut him off.

"If there were any strange remarks from Norma, he would have definitely heard them."

"But Jay doesn't seem to want to be of any help," Will replied, lowering the files he was reading, attempting to rouse Jay into talking, but Jay just starred out the window.

In Jay's mind, he could hear their voices trying to make him speak, but he almost couldn't understand them. Their voices were drowned out and whirred in his head like a broken record. He had his own thoughts to sort out. (How come even though I try, I am unable to protect anyone?) He thought reflectively, tapping his fingers on the windowsill, (The reason I wouldn't take Norma on the investigation was because I THOUGHT I was putting her in danger.) He stopped, (But it was because I wouldn't trust her that she got hurt.) Jay began to feel the burden of the blame weighing a million tons on his shoulders. Was this his fault? Finally Jay felt the need to speak up, "She was asleep when I came home."

The group stopped whatever they were debating and turned their attention to the strategist like they used to when he dealt information. This time though, the information he dealt would affect him too, "When I tried to shake her awake, she remained in her dream world like always." He paused, as if recalling that moment, "She looked as peaceful as she ever had, just like Norma always did." Now Will was taking a seat to absorb the rest of the story, "Then I shook her awake again, now thinking she could be in a coma or dead. This time she awoke with a jolt and yelled-"

Moses' eyes widened, "Well that's what we all wanted to hear! What exactly did she say to ya?"

"She said…" He remembered the look of anger and anguish in Norma's brown eyes lit by the fire. He had never seen that kind of an expression on her face before then, "WHY DID YOU TAKE ME AWAY FROM THERE?!" He tried to imitate the tone of her voice as she had screamed those words, but his voice shook so violently that he just sounded pathetic.

Senel took a step back, "Do you think…?"

Will pushed his glasses up further onto his nose, "Perhaps…"

Chloe folded her arms across her chest, "Then Norma may have been…"

Moses sat down and put his knuckle to his chin as if for once in thought, "Then that may explain…"

"Nothing," Jay concluded, "But it gives us a place to start thinking."

Norma stepped outside of the Man-Eating ruins for the first time that day. When she reached the outside she was almost surprised to see the sky so dark so early. The rain had lightened up, but the ground was wet with the small droplets of rain, hanging from the grass like liquidized crystals. She sat down in the dampness and hugged her legs to her chest and closed her eyes, things had only just begun…