PianZoe: Yay, five reviews! *shoots fists up into air, grinning stupidly*

CiaHottie: ... Have you been taken over by Cinnaminna again?

PianZoe: NO!!!! As for the kitty sisters of my pink hair leave the ticket after the roar which now cannot come in the telephone.

CiaHottie: Translation: "NO!!!! My pink-haired kitty-sister can not come to the phone right now, leave a ticket after the roar." Does that mean that CLOVINNA took over you?

PianZoe: Clovinna is my name, to be, be, be, I never the name of booger! It does not have!

CiaHottie: Ok, that one I didn't understand... Eat the cookie, KITTY-SPICE!!! Oh no... Randomonia! Honkyhonkyhonkyhonkyhonky!!! *grins, eyes crossed* It is abandonment or, someone, the kitty spice of the sisters??

PianZoe: My range we want! No, my range we want, the kitty of the sisters of foolish CINNAMINNA!! *The stick with oneself plays in star cutting*

CiaHottie: *still somewhat sane, since doesn't have two insane kitty-minions trying to take over mind* Well... uh hum... I being not to decide who abandon both because of you!! UH HUM!! Dis... dis... *twitch, glare, snarl*

PianZoe: Calling obtain, me permit the fact that it does that the speaker of the hat of the optional indigo! No, me!!! Abandonment: PianZoe or CiaHottie do not own the game of the arm of both wildness! That you make a mistake!! You said! Calling obtaining! PianZoe or CiaHottie do not own the game of the arm of wildness, those just are young! Being! It is not old!!! So there. I do not worry.

CiaHottie: As you can tell, neither of us own the Wild ARMs games, so... now we're going to continue to write! It is read, the reader and the critic whose Ohio state is patient so, it becomes!!

@% + !# = #*

... Silence. All was quiet. Giovanna stood, grinning malevolently down at the unconscious bodies of the nine humans. Ran stood, grinning from ear to ear, next to her mother, happy to actually be there to see what her mother had told her about so many times, for the first time. "Mom, that was great! Can I be there the next time yo-" before Ran could finish her sentence, a gunshot rang through the air. Ran's head whipped around in the direction of where the sound came, to see Kaitlyn standing flimsily above all the other adults, aiming her Gungnir HAG35 directly at Giovanna. Ran realized where Kaitlyn was pointing her ARM, and looked at her mother, to see her doubling over in pain. "Mommy?!"

"Ran... I've already... been... hit too many times. This... is just one too... many, I... guess. I'm sorry... please, continue with your Grandmother and my... dream... you can do... it... Ran... do it... make Filgaia... our's..." Giovanna murmured to her daughter, falling to her knees, clutching where she had been hit. Although she was dying, a smirk played over her lips, and she mustered an evil chortle, placed one of her hands on Ran's shoulder. "Promise me, foolish daughter... become strong... if you don't, I shall find a way... to come back and take care of you... myself..." Ran watched in horror, as her mother's eyes rolled upwards in her head, and she fell limply to the ground, her body fading away.

"No!! MOMMY! Don't die, you can't, not here, not because of a silly little human! Wake up! Stop fading, Mom... please..." Ran fell to her knees, and reached out to touch her mother, but her hand went right through Giovanna as if she was air. Tears welled up in Ran's eyes, threatening to spill, and she bit her lip. "Yes... I promise, Mommy... Filgaia will be ours... it will... be MINE... your's... and Grandma's... all the humans will suffer for this... they will... suffer... Painfully, they will be ours to torture and twist, Mo - AH!!" she was cut off abruptly, when she suddenly heard a loud gunshot, then felt a searing pain in her shoulder. She brought her hand up to feel it, and pulled it back, to see a thick red liquid on her hand. Blood. She narrowed her eyes, and look towards the humans, to see Kevin standing up next to his mother, just as shaky as her, aiming his Colère DR2 at her.

Shrieking in anger, she lifted her arm that was not injured, and blasted a sphere of dark energy at him, but before it could hit him, Kaitlyn pulled him up out of the way, just barely missing getting hit herself. This angered Ran that much more, making her shoot more energy spheres in their direction. Soon she had to rest, it was draining her. Sitting on the ground, panting for breath, she stared up at Kaitlyn, who was walking in her direction. "Don't come any closer!!" she exclaimed, holding up her arm that was not shot.

Kaitlyn ignored the threat, and just walked directly up to Ran. She brought her ARM up, and used it to push Ran's arm back down to her side. "Don't even try, I know that you're drained of energy, you can't fight more right now. Now, as soon as I'm finished saying this, I'll either shoot your head, or let you go. It depends on your answer. Do you realize, that your mother and Grandmother were just trying to basically kill a whole planet?"

"No, they wer-"

"Yes, they were going to consume the whole planet in a nightmare. A place where only they could live happily. Catch my drift? All of humanity on Filgaia would be trapped, forced to live in a world of darkness, and nightmares. Do you really want that? Are you really that selfish? Only you would be happy. You would have no one to live your life with. You would live, forever solitary. How many other dream demons would live in your world to accompany you?"

"There are more of us than you think!! And I do not care if I am lonely for the rest of my life, because I would be making my Mom and Grandma happy with the one thing they desired most! As long as they're happy, I DON'T CARE IF ANYONE ELSE IS!!!" Ran shouted, regaining enough strength to stand up, and begin to gather energy for another blast at Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn narrowed her eyes at Ran's answer, and aimed her Gungnir HAG35. "Then, I'm afraid that I'm just going to have to shoot you." she said, and just as she was about to pull the trigger, the small sphere of energy that Ran had gather hit the ARM, causing it to go flying out of her hands. Kaitlyn fell back a foot, giving Ran the opportunity to run. And run she did.

She began running, as fast as her tired legs would let her, but then, she got an idea. An idea to get back at the ones who killed her Mother. She halted, and turned back, heading towards the three unconscious Bernadettes. Her Mother would be proud of her for thinking up such a plan, she thought, causing her to smirk. As soon as she was standing next to the three humans, she held out her hands towards Erica, and muttered something inaudible. Erica began to float off the ground, engulfed in a sphere of what appeared to be television static. Then, the television static came closer together, then spread wide out, grabbing Ran, and then disappeared, taking the two with it.

Kaitlyn had looked up just before it took them away, and she gasped as she saw what happened. She quickly got to her feet, and stumbled over to Anthony and Georgia, shaking them awake. "Anthony! Georgia!! Wake up! Erica, she-she's been kidnaped!" she exclaimed, which got the attention of the two she was trying to awaken. Their eyes snapped open, and Georgia jerked upwards, soon followed by Anthony. "Ran took her, just after I shot and killed Giovanna!!"

**** - ** = **

~In Nightmare Castle~

~`Erica's POV`~

I woke up, to find myself staring up at a girl with short, deep, deep purple hair, angry amber eyes, and a pale complection. I gulped when I saw her smirk suddenly, afraid for some reason. She looked familiar to me. It was a blur, but I remember something silver... and this girl and an older looking one standing beside her, smirking... I don't remember anything after that. I watched her as she stood up, and began walking a circle around me. "Who are you?" I asked her, and her smirk widened more.

"My name is Ran."

I nodded my head. "Ah, ok. And... where are we?"

"Nightmare castle, my home."

"Ok... so... who am I?"

The girl, Ran, stopped walking, and stared at me with a mildly surprised expression. "You don't know who you are?"

"No, not really."

"Oh, really... hm..." she stopped in front of me, and sat down, her legs folded like a pretzel. Her face was twisted up funny, and I sat up, so I could talk to her better. She looked back down at me, and told me straight out, "Your name is Erica."

My face lit up, I'm sure of it. Ok, so I do have a name. But, aren't I supposed to have a second name? Oh well, if I do, I'll just try and get it out of her later. "Erica...? I like it! So... how old are you and how old am I?"

"I'm 13 and you're... 11, I think. And, in case you ask these questions, I'm going to answer them before you do. I kidnaped you, to get back at your family for killing my Mother. I am a dream demon, you are a human. And because of this, you are now my slave. Not my friend. I won't talk to you, you won't talk to me, you'll listen to what I tell the Disasters to make you do, and do it willingly. If you have trouble with any of the areas in my castle, and you get lost in there, then try to find your own way out, no one will be coming to save you. Ok, that's about it. Your first task - cook ME dinner! And nothing gross! You will find a list of the stuff I like on the counter, and please don't try any new recipes. That's all, bye-bye!" and with that, my new master disappeared to who knows where. I sat there, frozen, replaying what I just heard over and over in my head, and I came to a decision. As soon as I found the door, I was out of here.

**** - ** = **

~`Third Person POV`~

~*Nine Months Later*~

Erica groaned as, for the thirtieth time since she arrived nine months ago (at least, she THOUGHT it was nine months ago, but this place was like an encased labyrinth, so she couldn't tell what time it was or what day), she couldn't find her way back to the kitchen. She turned a corner, and nearly jumped for joy upon finding a doorway to a new room. She opened it, and stepped inside, finding herself in a room she had never seen in all her time there. It seemed to be... an entrance hall. Her eyes widened upon this realization, and she glanced around, looking for a doorway out. A statue... a normal door... normal door... a couple of glass boxes with pink shimmery crystal type things floating in them... a staircase... a hallway with double doors at the end... another normal door... 'Wait! Hold on a minute here! Hallway with double doors!?'

Her eyes flitted back to the hallway, widening in the process. Maybe, just maybe, it was the exit out of this miserable dimension? Before she even knew what was happening, her legs were carrying her towards the door, as fast as they could go. A grin broke out across her face, while in her head she was trying her hardest to convince herself not to get her hopes too high, just in case it was just another door leading to another part in the maze of a castle.

When she reached the door, she skidded to a halt, and glanced wildly around, to make sure Ran or the Disasters weren't there. She turned back to the door, reached up, grabbed the handle, and pulled. To her luck, the door was surprisingly light, and unlocked. She opened it a crack, and peeked out. This couldn't be another part of Nightmare Castle, it looked too... dusty. And everything looked, somehow, normal, although the only place she could remember being was inside the dream dimension.

She stepped out the door, and suddenly felt a bit heavier, for a second, but only a second. Stumbling over her own feet, she took a couple more steps forward, then glanced backwards to where she came, and nearly fell over in shock. There was no door where she just stood, only another wall, which seemed too far away to be where she came from. She then looked down below her feet, to see what looked like ice, but it was not cold, and it glowed a bit. Instantly, she knew that she was STANDING on the door. Shaking her head, she momentarily wondered if this place was even stranger than Nightmare Castle.

She glanced around once more, to find a hole in the wall which looked strangely like a door. Coming from the hole was bright light, which made Erica grin, because she could only just barely remember sunlight, and it was like taking a bath after not for nine months (PianZoe: *shudders*). She ran out the door, and her eyes widened a bit. It was nothing like Nightmare Castle. Sand colored grass, dead trees, sand, oceans of it, and a bit of green grass. It was all foreign to her, but somehow, it was all familiar. So familiar, in fact, it gave her a bit of a headache.

"Wow. Ran kept me trapped in that... that... NIGHTMARE, when there was this out here?! Jeez, I'd have rather died that not have ever been out here! Sure, it's a bit too hot, but who cares about heat when you get to see... um... what's the word? ... Nature!" she exclaimed to herself, grinning like an idiot. After about five minutes, she scowled, and rolled her eyes. "And I guess living in there has made me have conversations with myself. Course, who ELSE is there to talk to?"

"Me."

"AHH!!"

Erica nearly leapt out of her skin when she heard an amused female voice come from behind her. She whirled around, her eyes as wide as saucers, and her face as pale as a sheet of paper, to see a woman standing at about 5'7", who looked about seventeen. She had short blue hair that came down just above her shoulders that was held in a some up some down hairdo, with three short strands of bangs hanging in her face, and piercing lime green eyes. She wore a tight black t-shirt with a very low v-neck, a blood red leather jacket over the t-shirt, black finger gloves, and a tight white mini skirt with a golden belt around it. Erica also couldn't help but notice the bayonet the woman held in her right hand... "Who... who are you?" she stuttered.

The woman chuckled a bit, and then began circling Erica, examining her, making her more nervous. "Uh..." Erica muttered as the woman stopped in front of her, and squatted down to her level, to look her straight in the eye. "Who... are you?" she repeated her previous question, and the woman just held out her hand, as if wanting to shake hands. Erica hesitantly brought her hand up into the woman's.

"Heh, it's not like I'm gonna bite you if you put your hand in mine, kid." the woman joked, chuckling as she watched Erica put her hand into her own. Shaking their hands softly, then letting go, she said, "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Seeing Erica shake her head as an answer, the woman continued. "To answer your question, I'm Jacqui Cascade. Who are you, and what are you doing out here all by yourself? And... how on Filgaia did you get here by yourself!?"

"Jacqui Cascade... Cascade..." Erica's face twisted up in thought, then just as quickly dropped, as if she just remembered something. 'I was right! You DO have to have a second name!' she thought, then shook herself out of her thoughts, and back to answering Jacqui. "Hm... Cascade. That's a nice last name! And... I'm Erica. I don't know my second name. In fact, I don't remember anything past nine months ago, when I found myself in Nightmare Castle with Ran and her Disasters..."

"Whoa, whoa, what? Nightmare Castle? Ran? Disasters? I think you have more than amnesia, kid, because this has never been a castle, and no one has ever LIVED here." Jacqui interrupted, raising an eyebrow at Erica, who glared at her, with narrowed eyes. "Anyway, continue."

"This is not Nightmare Castle. Nightmare Castle is in there," she pointed towards the doorway, then continued. "And, it's past that big blue circle thing... I think. I don't really know, because I was in it, and the next thing I knew, I was standing on that blue glass circle thingy..." she stated, and shook her head. "If you don't believe me, I don't blame you."

"... It is pretty far fetched, but I've heard of stranger things." Jacqui answered, then glanced over Erica's shoulder, frowning a bit. Then she looked back at Erica's face, and asked, "How old are you?"

"Er..." Erica was about to answer, but found she couldn't, because she didn't actually know how old she was. She begin racking her brain for any memory of her age, and one certain age seemed to flash itself in her face. "Um. Eleven, I think. How old are you?" she asked, being the ever curious preteen amnesiac.

Jacqui blinked, her frown deepening somewhat. "You're only eleven? Geez, you need to find someone to stay with. I guess I'm going to have to take you with me to help you find somewhere to stay; I may be selfish, but I'm not that heartless. Come on, let's go get on Guadeniosa, and get you a place to stay." Jacqui stood up, and began walking towards a set of stairs, then when she realized Erica wasn't following her, she turned around and, rolling her eyes, smirked in a way that almost looked more like a smile. "Oh, and to answer your question, I'm seventeen. Now are you going to come with me, or stay here and rot away, waiting for someone else? It'll be at least another year, kid, I would take my chances with me if I were you."

Erica chuckled nervously, and walked towards Jacqui a bit, then stopped, and tilted her head to the side. "Um... what's a... Guadeniosa?" she asked, bringing her head back up, and looking at Jacqui in confusion.

Jacqui chuckled, and motioned to her right. Erica turned her head in that direction, and gasped in shock, jumping, and paling a bit as well. "That, is Guadeniosa. That's her name. She is the only other dragon alive, besides that one that I've heard some about... Lombardia, was it? I think so." about three yards away from them (Erica didn't know HOW she missed it) was a dragon. It was like nothing Erica could remember ever seeing - it looked like a living, breathing, and flying fighting machine (which, really, is what it is. Oh, and Guadeniosa is a bit smaller than Lombardia, and is purple and gold, instead of blue and silver).

Erica blinked a couple times, and looked over to Jacqui, who was grinning at her. "Eh, heh, heh, ok... a dragon... you don't exactly see one of those everyday... heh, uh... wait a minute... We have to get ON that thing!?"

Jacqui's grin changed to a frown quicker than you could say 'scowl'. "Hey! She is not a THING, she is a girl dragon named Guadeniosa! Get your facts straight, kid."

"Ok, ok. Fine then. We have to get ON Guadeniosa!?"

"Yep. What, did you think I walked here? That would take at the least a week, with my horrifying climbing skill. For someone with good climbing skill, it'd take... oh, say... at the least, five days. Now come on, let's get to a town and drop you off, so you won't be alone any more, and I don't have to take care of you."

"Oh, you're so nice."

"I know."

**** - ** = **

Jacqui tried dragging an airsick Erica out of Guadeniosa, grumbling about having to clean up the seat when she got back. Erica was refusing to move more than three inches a minute, so Jacqui, grumbling all the more, picked the girl up, and carried her into the town. If she had eyes in the back of her head, she would have seen the triumphant smirk that played across Erica's pale features. 'Hee, hee, hee, she thinks I can't walk very well because of accidently puking on my seat. This is great! A free ride... I hate walking any farther than I have to anyway, and she landed SO far away from the town... hehehehe...'

"... stupid kid..." Erica heard Jacqui grumbling, causing her smirk to form into a real smile, and causing herself to get into a fit of giggles. Which, in turn, made the already irritable Jacqui Cascade, drop the hysterical Erica onto the ground, seething, all the while muttering very colorful things about the black haired girl. "Get up and follow me, ya' damn kid." she spat at Erica, who quit giggling almost immediately, her mood changed from humorous, to ticked at being called 'damn kid'.

"SO I'M A DAMN KID, AM I!?" Erica exclaimed, getting to her feet. Several people who were passing looked her way, some glaring, some confused, and some were just startled that a kid had such a loud voice. "WELL, Ms. I'm-a-damned-bitch-but-think-I'm-better-than-other-people, YOU'RE A DAMN TEENAGER! HMPH!!" And with that 'said', Erica stormed angrily into the town, to get away from the blue haired teenager, whom she find quite irritating.

Jacqui stood in the same spot, staring after the enraged ebony haired preteen, slightly startled that such an annoying little brat can be so... so annoying one minute, and then so much like herself the next minute. Then, suddenly, she smirk, as a wonderful idea came to her. "Heh, heh, heh..." she chuckled, then slowly sauntered into the town, getting the feel that the bouncy raven haired preteen was not going to have any luck in finding a family to take her in - especially, if she had anything to say about it.

Meanwhile, Erica, in her rage, had been turned down from three families already - which made her calm down somewhat. "I can't blame them, really," she mumbled to herself, as she knocked on a door to another house, then withdrew her hand from the door. "I mean, who would want a bitchy eleven year old girl for a fake daughter? I know I certainly wouldn't!" she exclaimed, then looked up at the door, just in time to see a confused and somewhat ticked woman slam the door in her face. This caused Erica to smack her forehead, and groan angrily at herself. "Or a eleven year old bitchy girl who TALKS TO HERSELF. Ugh..."

"Hehehehe. No luck, eh, brat?"

Erica spun around, her anger at herself turning to Jacqui. "YOU!! It's your fault! You made me angry, and now because of that, I can't find a place to stay until I find my real family!! Get on your dragon and GET AWAY FROM ME!!"

"Hmm... nah, I think I'll hang around a little longer. I've taken a liking to you."

"WELL I HAVEN'T!"

"You don't like yourself?" Jacqui asked, grinning in a mocking way, which made Erica even angrier.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!"

"Then what did you mean?"

"I MEANT, I HAVEN'T TAKEN A LIKING TO YOU!!"

"Ohh, you should be more clear in speaking, brat."

Erica, now feeling as if she were to burst on fire from her anger at the blue haired teenager, stormed down the stairs, and then in the direction of the house next to that one. "That stupid blue haired bitch. She's so... VEXING!! If I had some ARM or magic or something I'd kill her right now... or at least severely MAIM her..."

"You won't find anyone to take you in, brat."

Erica spun around, with a look of animosity on her face. "OH really? Then why did you take me here then?! Jeez, you're an idiot if you think I'm stupid enough to fall for THAT. I mean, sure, I am no angel - although, I don't know, I might have been before, I just don't REMEMBER - but it's not like everyone is just going to leave an innocent little child with no recollection of who she was - or, actually, is..."

"They will." Jacqui cut Erica off before she could continue, and slowly sauntered up to the door of the next house. She gently knocked on the door, and threw a nasty look over her shoulder at Erica, before turning back to the door with a normal look on her face. The door opened slowly, to reveal a scantily clad woman that looked to be about forty, with extremely long curly red hair held in a high ponytail.

"What do you want?" the woman snapped, crossing her arms and tapping her foot in an obviously irritated manner. "I'm sort of busy, so, do hurry it up."

Jacqui frowned at the woman's rude behavior, but shrugged it off. "I was just going to tell you-" but she was cut off by an angered cry from inside the house.

"MOM!!! GET BACK IN HERE!" a young, enraged female voice exclaimed from a room in the house, making the rude woman, hold her index finger in front of herself, indicating that she would be back in just a moment. Jacqui blinked as the red haired woman stormed back into the house, and then began shouting at her daughter - or, Jacqui figured, from what the other female in the house had shouted, it was the rude woman's daughter. After a few moments, another loud shout came from the younger voice. "THAT'S IT, MOM, I'M LEAVING! And I'm NOT coming BACK!!"

Soon, a girl who stood about three inches shorter than Jacqui, and looked to be about fifteen, stormed out, angry tears spilling down her face. She had ringlets, that came down just below her shoulders, vibrant emerald eyes, and was only a bit more clothed than her mother. She stopped in the doorway, glared at Jacqui, then Erica, then stormed down the street, a knapsack slung over her shoulder, and a Goldshiemer PSA115 (CiaHottie: I made up the name of this ARM!) ARM in her hands.

Jacqui and Erica stared after the girl for a bit, then they both shrugged, and turned back to the house, to see the woman, standing there, leaning against the doorway, tears very obvious in her eyes - but she tried hiding them by frowning at Jacqui. "So? What... what were you going to say, again?"

"Never mind that. What's got your daughter all worked up?" Jacqui asked, snorting about the rude woman's daughter's angry departure. The woman couldn't seem to be keep up the I-don't-care act when Jacqui asked this, because almost immediately, she sunk down into a crouch, her hands covering her face as she sobbed silently.

"It... it's my fault..." the woman stated, making Erica walked up and place her hand on the red head's shoulder, sympathetically.

"What's your fault, ma'am?"

"The rea... reason my daughter left me... it's my... my fault..." the woman sobbed, and Erica patted her back, not knowing what to do. Jacqui decided this was the perfect moment to tell everyone else in the town that if they took Erica in, she would kill them, and snuck off.

"Can you tell me? Please? Maybe I can help..." Erica offered, and the woman's sobs got a bit louder.

"No one can help, you hear? No one!! Fifteen years ago, when I had her, my... my love accused me of lying to him about us being married - you see, he had been intoxicated, and I had been pretty muchly sober, when I met him. I... I... I fell for him with one glance. He had been a bit, you know, scruffy at that time, but if he had just been a bit cleaner he would have b... been the most handsome man I had ever laid eyes on..." here, the woman choked back a huge sob, and glanced up at Erica for a moment, blinking her eyes, then shaking her head as if shaking out of her thoughts. "Anyway, I was... well... this might be too old for you, but I don't care, you'll hear about this stuff one day... I was hired to have sex with rich men. But, if I got married, I could get out of it.

"I saw this handsome, slightly clumsy, intoxicated man as my chance to escape the miserable occupation I had been in since I was fifteen. So, I walked over to him, and... and flirted a bit, soon asking him to dance. We danced until he passed out, and I had to ask the manager - who knew me quite well by then, for obvious reasons - what his room number was, and if I could borrow a set of keys so I could take him to his room. The manager, Rudey, figured that this man was just another of my... hmm... what's the word? Another of my... my victims... so, I took him up to his room, and waited for him to wake up. When he did, he was going crazy with questions - well, until he got sick all over himself, that is. Hehehehe."

The woman chuckled for a moment, before dissolving back into sobs. "Um... Ma'am? I hope you don't mind me asking, but... What does this have to do with your daughter's anger at you?" Erica asked, giving the woman a confused look.

The woman glared at Erica for a moment, then looked down at her knees, and fell backwards onto her posterior. "This has a lot to do with it. Now shut up and listen, I feel like confessing the truth to SOMEONE. And if it's to you, a mere stranger - a child, no less - to me, I feel better."

"Ok, ok, continue."

"Thank you. Now, like I was saying, the handsome man had gotten sick all over himself, so I made him get up off the bed, so I could clean him up. After he was clean once more - or, at least, as clean as he was before he puked up his drinks, and dinner - I decided to do one of the only things I knew I could do really, really well. I made him sit back down on the bed - at this point, he didn't care if his questions were answered, he seemed to be too drunk to care... and he had this adorable clueless look on his face, which attracted me even more - and I sat down on his lap, cooing about how handsome and... and sexy he was. After that, you... you can guess what happened..."

The woman stopped for a moment once more, glancing at Erica, who looked sick - she may have had amnesia, but she could remember about SOME things. Laughing at Erica's face, the woman continued. "Well, the morning after, the man was had a hangover, like expected, and could not remember a thing. I had hoped that would be the case, so I could carry out my plan, y'know. He had no clue who I was, or how he got into his room, so, I told him what I planned to tell him from the beginning. I believe I remember the exact thing I said, too... I think it was: "My name is Aiko Eleniak; the reason you can't remember anything is because you drank too much last night; and, we met last night when you were only a bit intoxicated - it was love at first sight, so... then we went and got married." He believed me, as luck would have it. This was what I also told my employer, and anyone who asked who the 'handsome stranger' was. But then...

"But then I found out he had made me pregnant. I had never wanted a child. I only wanted him... just him... just to get married for real, and live with him for the rest of my life. But, when I told him about the child, he seemed... thrilled, strangely... I had thought, from his personality, he disliked children as much as I did. So, because the thought of a child made him happy, I decided I would keep it. Those nine months were the longest, most dreadful things I ever had to go through. But he was with me, through the whole thing, comforting me. All because, he thought I was his wife - and I thought he had loved me, at the time. When I was actually having the baby, he was still there - although, he did look a little green as he watched - comforting me like the sweety he really was underneath, even though I was shouting at him to shut up at the time.

"As soon as our daughter, Anastasia, was born, and I looked at her small face, I was happy. I mean, even though she didn't look a thing like her father - except for her nose and mouth, maybe - she was still beautiful. I had hated her when she was inside me, but when I actually saw her, everything was wonderful. And... and... I made the biggest mistake of my life, because I felt guilty about lying about such a huge thing to him. And I told him the truth. That I had lied about us being married... he nearly had a heart attack at that moment, I could tell by the shock on his face. He then... began shouting profanities... and... and then he left... he just left... that is the last I ever saw of him. He never even got to hold his daughter..."

The woman - Aiko - sniffled, rubbing her eyes with the back of her right hand, while Erica just continued to listen intently. "And... and I had told Anastasia that the reason she had no father, was because he had been killed, when he was battling a monster for a nearby town. But... she found the small journal I kept, and read the last chapter in it, finding out that I had lied to her about why she had no father - that was only just after your friend wanted to speak to me. And now... I've lost the one person most precious to me, besides the man who gave her to me..."

Erica nodded her head, her face showing sympathy, until she remembered what Aiko had called Jacqui, and she snorted. "My friend... yeah, heh, right. Jacqui? That'll happen only when I'm a pleasure slave for a rat..." Aiko looked at her strangely, and that was when Jacqui walked back up to them, grinning like she had conquered Filgaia.

She grabbed Erica's arm, pulled her up by it, and turned her around to face herself, putting on a fake mask of sympathy. "I'm sorry Erica, I tried to find you a place to stay - really I did. But, it's just, no one wants to take care of an eleven year old little girl, then give her up when she finds her real family. I guess you'll just have to stay with me..." she feigned a tender, understanding voice, to go with her look, while underneath she was plotting her scheme to turn Erica more into herself.

Erica's face turned to shock, then irritation, and then disgust. "No chance, I'd rather stay here and rot in the street than go anywhere with you." she snapped, then turned to Aiko, and smiled a bit. "I hope you find your daughter, and your old love, Aiko. See you." then she turned around, brushed angrily past Jacqui, and stormed down the road, towards an inn, not knowing that Jacqui was following right behind her.

"It's a bummer you don't wanna come with me, kid. Because, y'know, you have potential." she heard Jacqui's sniggering voice, which caused her to come to a halt, and spin around, her eyes narrow.

"What do you mean...?"

"I meant what I said. You have potential - you could be great."

"Great at what?"

"At being a Drifter, of course."

"..." Erica blinked twice, and stared, wide eyed at Jacqui, speechless. "Wha... what?"

Jacqui sighed irritably, and rolled her eyes, muttering, "Geez, what, is this kid deaf?" then looking back down at the stunned Erica, and half smirking. "Let me repeat this in slow motion. You... would... make... a... great... Drifter. You get it now?"

"I... I don't remember much, but... I remember Drifters... I would make a good one? Really?!"

"Yeah. A great treasure-hunting Drifter. You and I could make an unstoppable team, kid."

"Ooo... that sounds... kinda fun. How...?"

"How do you become one? Simple." Jacqui's smirk grew larger, as she began leading Erica back to Guadeniosa. "Come with me - I'll teach you all I know. Even how to handle ARMs."

Erica blinked, and grinned. "But, Jacqui, I think I remember being able to use ARMs..."

"Huh. Well, ok then! What type of ARMs?"

"They were... duel pistols. That's all I remember... I don't remember their names..."

"Ok then. We'll buy you a couple pistols, make sure you can handle them, and THEN I can teach you all I know."