Wow. I didn't think that anyone was going to guess what race the girl was so quickly. Was I that obvious? Since one person already guessed what the girl was, it would make sense why many of the guys who were unpure would look at her like that. Plus, guys weren't the only ones affected. Serra was looking to compare herself with the newcomer. Well anyway, as for one of the questions, Pent wasn't considered a girl because I just didn't see him being very feminine. I'm terribly sorry for the late update. I was busy and so forth.

Chapter 7: Lead

Mark stared at them. They stared at him. None of them moved. This was impossible. Mark died. Eliwood, Lyn, and Hector all saw him get hit by the arrow. A punctured heart leads to death unless something replaces it. Nothing can replace the duties of a heart. How… how was this possible?

Lyn took a step forward in disbelief. "Mark?" She asked quietly. Mark stood unmoving. His eyes were unlike the old Mark. They still betrayed no feeling and pierced your soul searching for answers, but this new Mark did not have the gentle brown irises nor the kindness and compassion his old counterpart portrayed.

"Well, well, isn't this a touching reunion?" A lady in robes floated down. Her robes were elegant with designs connecting circles on her arms. Wings white and feathery glistened in the pale light through one of the broken windows. Her hair and eyes were brown. She was the opposite, in appearance, of the demoness they met earlier.

"Tsk, Tsk, Mark. You didn't fight at all did you? You didn't even manage to kill the lords. Why? Did you still retain your feelings for them?"

Mark looked up sharply at her, his eyes wild with fright. He collapsed to the ground grabbing his shoulders writhing in pain. The lady barely noticed and whispered, "Go to him Mark. He'll make the pain go away. They are the cause of your pain. You can be rid of them soon enough. We'll always be by your side."

Mark started to phase out by the end of her second sentence. Before he disappeared, he took one last look at the group in front of him.

Still keeping her eyes trained on them, she spoke, "So you are the former friends of Mark I've heard so much about. You don't look so tough. How did you manage to avoid his claws? His traps are always perfect."

"Yeah? Well keep dreaming lady. That wasn't Mark," Hector spoke in a less than sure way.

Her eyes widen in shock. "How dare you?! You dare insult him?! You would disrespect the Holy Prin-." She stopped her self suddenly. Her hands covered her mouth as if she spoke something she shouldn't have. After a moment she narrowed her eyes. Looking down on them with contempt, she spat, "Hmph, and I was going to let you go free. I suppose that I should just kill you now. After all, then he will pardon my mistake. She brought her hand up, wind swirled around her hand forming an orb. Her eyes gleamed manically as she slowly brought it down.

Out of nowhere, a dagger flew at her, disrupting her spell. She quickly faded out the same way as Mark.

"AWW! That's really a shame. I was hoping to nail her and get some more info. She makes it so much harder for me to spy on her now," Matthew swore as he came out of the shadows. While every body was too busy looking at Mark and the lady, Matthew snuck in and hid until the opportune time. "I couldn't get a tracker on her. Man, why do I always get the lamest technology up to date?"

All heads were turned to him. Latest technology? Matthew, sensing that this was not a good time to reveal his tricks, decided to change the subject. "Hey Lyn. You managed to track down the Black Fang on the last adventure. Can you track Mark or at least his look alike down this time?"

Lyn gave him a skeptic look, "Oh sure Matthew, clumsy soldiers leaving footprints is just the same as following invisible energy strands left behind after a phasing or warp."

Matthew looked up hopefully, "So you can get him?"

"No Matthew, I was being sarcastic. I would have thought that hanging around Mark as much as you do you would learn of sarcasm."

"No, Mark only called me to see what I've picked up on our expeditions. I say, when he learned of my abilities, he ordered me that whenever we entered an enemy fortress, check for treasures and weapons. Whatever they won't have, will only help us."

"Oh, so is that why some of the treasures of Castle Ostia went missing after we protected the throne there?" Smirked Hector at Matthew with murder in his eyes. How can violence and gore be so appealing to him? Especially about something so petty.

Lyn stepped in before the day was called the Matthew Massacre. Focusing with her all her strength on the ring Mark gave her, his spirit which lingers in all of them, she saw flashes of Mark, wherever he was.

Flash

Mark stood with people surrounding him. The demoness from the village and the new lady they saw stood beside him. A shadow stood in front of him. The four of them formed a ring. The shadow person was slightly taller then Mark and spoke with eloquence.

"Mark, your next mission is Pherae. Go there. You need no more directions. Do what was planned."

Mark turned and started to leave before the shadow called out again with his right arm outstretched. "Wait a minute Mark. You don't have to go quite yet. Come, you've just come back. I want to hear all about it. What happened, what was your genius plan this time, were you hurt anywhere?" His demeanor was suddenly changed from his earlier command.

Mark nodded and handed him a scroll before looking back down like a doll. The shadow turned around and called the two girls to his side. "Geez, Mark seems down ever since we rescued him. His memories hurt him so I don't think I should stop the repression. What do you think Tarin?"

The brown haired one, Tarin, spoke, "I really think that you should stop calling him by that stupid name.?"

"But he made it up himself. That was the main reason that we chose our names. Remember? To fit in with him more."

"Fine, but once he is himself again, I vote that we return to our real names."

The shadow nodded his head slowly, silently agreeing. "What do you think Tamara?"

The demoness Tamara spoke, "I think that you should welcome him back again. He's been through a lot. You should throw him a party!" she ended happily.

Again the shadow nodded his head and agreed. "Yes, that's just what we need. A good old bonding agent for all of us." He turned around to Mark, "Mark, you have a week here. We're throwing you a party in a week and you can't leave until then."

Mark didn't look up but he acknowledged his superior. "Understood," he spoke monotonously.

The other three sighed comically muttering, "This will take a while."

End Flash

Lyn quickly jolted out of her reverie. She looked up at Eliwood and Hector sternly and said, "We're going to Pherae."

So Mark has come back and we have some new powerful forces against the lords. On the flip side, he is against them and now they have overwhelming odds against them. He'll be back. He alway comes back.