Technically, the whole part where part of the circle was written in her blood does have something to do with it. It was edited out at the last minute. Just know, Mark has a really close relationship with those guys. Also, in regards to the blood seal thing, Mark is not one, but he's also not another.

"We percieve the world as our senses tell us. This is not the real world that we are witnessing."

"If you should doubt yourself, then you will subconsciously sabatoge yourself to achieve a much more realistic result like the one you envisioned."

Both of these have something to do with Mark's life, but then again, it also has something to do with our life if you think about it.

Anyway, after dancing around the point I was trying to get across, I'm really sorry for not updating any sooner and that this update is rather short. There were problems that I had to take care of before it got too big. Hopefully I'll be able to write more this break. But that's only hopefully.

Chapter 13: Fury in the Sand

Mark groaned. The last night was horrific. It had been two weeks since his kiss with Lyn and everyone seems to know about it. That wasn't the worse part. He found out that he constantly needed to kiss her to keep his energy up because they were moving at a faster rate. She was totally drained the first time but she was getting used to it. He didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to crave her.

Lyn came up with a plan. She met Mark behind his tent every night before they went to sleep. There, they shared a quick kiss. It wasn't any thing special, just something to keep Mark's energy up. Of course, the camp blew it out of proportions and ended up on the receiving end of Mark and Lyn's glare.

Mark shook his head. Pent had given him some scrolls that he was unable to translate. 'Why does he think that I'll be able to translate them if he couldn't?' Mark thought ruefully. With a scowl, he looked over the ancient runes. He gasped as his eyes widened to the size of saucers. He let out a strangled scream before the world went black.

When he woke up, he looked into the concerned faces of his comrades. He looked around and found himself in the Ward of Injuries. He seems to find himself in the area a lot. After making sure that he was okay, they asked him what happened. Mark remembers and leapt out of bed, to the annoyance of Serra who insisted that he was still not well. ("Believe me when I say that I'm well enough." "Humph … mutters about patients who don't know what was good for them...)

Mark rushed to his tent to find his papers already restacked by Pent who was conveniently nearby.

"Pent, Pent, PENT!"

"What is it Mark?"

"You said you couldn't read the runes, right?"

"Yes. I did say that."

"Okay, how about now?" Mark handed the scroll over to Pent who scanned over it quickly.

"Nope, it's still just a bunch of squiggles to me."

"Yo Mark! What's the matter with you running off on us like that?" Mark looked up to see Hector screaming at him being followed by Lyn and Eliwood.

"But it can't be. I can understand every that the scroll says. And I'm sure I've never seen this language before."

"Are you sure?"

"I just said that I was."

"Well, what does it say?"

"Hmm… the first part seems to be a poem. Hidden from a world of lies, in barren wasteland lies paradise. Look in the sea of sand, where thy sleeps the Holy Land."

"What…does…it…mean?" Eliwood managed to pant out as he caught up with his friends.

"Isn't it obvious?" Mark said thoughtfully. "We head out for Athos' place in the desert. I mean, 'sea of sand', it's kind of obvious. Pent, I trust that you know the way there?"

"Of course, I shall go and prepare."

"Get Louise and Hawkeye to go with you!" Mark shouted at Pent's retreating form.

The three lords couldn't help but feel rather left out of the loop at the moment. It took a while, but Mark managed to explain the situation to them.

"So let me get the straight," Hector began. "You fainted from reading?"

"Shut up Hector!"

"Ooh, burned."

Mark grumbled as he walked to his tent. He sat down and sifted through his memories. Mark was a man of logic. He can pretty much describe anything using logic, even magic. However, this did not make sense. How could he have known what that scroll said even without having to go through the painstaking task of jotting down symbols and such.

Pent said that he brought the scroll with him from the library in Tortuga. He said that it caught his eye and that was the reason he wasn't able to aid the other spell casters in the ritual.

It was strange, and Mark wouldn't stand for it. Wait, he's already sitting, so he must… never mind. Anyway, perhaps it was just some trick of the light. Yeah right Mark, you keep telling yourself that. OK. He took up the scroll after he packed away his meager possessions and walked outside. To everyone he met, he held up the scroll and asked them if they can read what was written. To his disappointment, no one could… until he reached Lyn.

"Lyn, can you read this for me?"

"Uh, sure, no problem. Hidden from a world of lies, in barren wasteland lies paradise. Isn't that what was written on the scroll you read from this morning?"

"Lyn, that's the same scroll."

"WHAT?! But I can read it perfectly."

"I know. Oh boy, the plot thickens!"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Don't worry about it."

In about half an hour, the camp was ready to move. It was only three days of easy trekking to get to the edge of the desert. Everything was alright, and Mark continued to feed off of Lyn who was getting better.

"This place brings back a lot of memories."

"That it does, my Lord Pent."

"Louise, how many times must I tell you? You don't have to call me that."

"Come both of you. Mark asked us to lead the group to Athos' hideaway."

Louise and Pent gave each other one last look and hurried off to collect their group. Mark divided the team up into three groups for each of them to lead. They would still stick together, but it was easier to manage with a smaller group.

They reached their destination without too much trouble. Some of the weaker members were buffeted by the wind and sand but other than that, it was alright. Mark noticed Ninian was seeking comfort from Eliwood. He just shook his head and continued on to the place where the former 'Living Legend' used to live.

The place was old as he remembered it and still seemed alive with the magical energy residue. He looked over to where his lords were catching their breaths. Strange, why was everyone exhausted and he wasn't? Even Hawkeye seems tired.

It must have something to do with his incubus blood, he concluded. He noticed Lyn was stretching now. He couldn't stop himself from staring at her. Her graceful limbs, her soft curves… Mark's mind was now on a tangent.

Lyn on the other hand was still oblivious. She suddenly stops stretching. The ring on her hand was pulling her towards something. Lyn knew it wasn't wise to leave behind her friends, but she was pretty sure that there wasn't anything too dangerous in the area.

The ring led her to the library where the massive tomes of arcane arts resided. The air seemed to be charged with magic. The ring led her to a podium where there was a book in chains. Fine dust covered it, obscuring the title. Lyn ran a finger along the spine to remove some of the dust.

As soon as she ran her finger on the old book, the ring glowed red. The chains seem to melt away. Lyn quickly scurried back with her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready for any demon that was released from the book. She waited a while before cautiously moving towards the book.

Carefully, she opened the cover to find, not pages, but a map. The entire inside of the book seemed to have been cut out to place in a single old piece of parchment. She pocketed her find and rushed back to her friends to tell them about it.

Mark was slightly worried that Lyn was gone. He finally snapped out of his trance long enough to notice that he'd been ogling empty space. Lyn came back with the map making him incredibly relieved that she's back. He ran up to her and hugged her in his enthusiasm shocking everyone.

After getting a hold of himself, Lyn showed them the map. It was a very detailed map of the desert. At the bottom was a signature. A signature that matched Mark's. Mark stared at it palely. There were too many unanswered questions and loose ends. He didn't make the map and many other things that he doesn't remember doing.

In the end, the group decided that they didn't really have anything to lose. They've come this far and a map with Mark's signature has to be a good omen… Otherwise, it was a bad omen, but let's not get into that.

They decided to head out in the morning as it was night at the moment. Everyone bunkered down after a comforting meal. It was deep into the night when everyone woke up… to the sound of a roar on the desert winds.

Mark was among the first to wake up. He looked around blearily for a moment before gathering some flight riders and magic users.

"Go out for a recon. Do not, under any circumstances, involve yourself. Report back here first before doing anything. Come back in five minutes."

Five minutes later, they came back with their reports. Each person was talking over the other, their voices overlapping. It was hard to make anything out of the din.

"We saw them!"

"It was incredible!"

"Excuse me?"

"Really big and furry!"

"All of them!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, it was so cool!"

"Did you see the formation?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"It looked like a professional army!"

"But it couldn't be!"

"EXCUSE ME!!!!!!!!!!" Mark screamed. "Now then, will someone give me a clear, concise, logical, and most importantly, not boring explanation?"

"I will," Heath spoke up. "From the sky, I saw rows of formation. They were marching so in synch that one would think that they were a professional army. I noticed that there were no archers so I flew in for a closer look."

"Wait, what would a professional army be doing in the middle of nowhere?"

"That's the thing Mark. They weren't…human."

"Wh-what?"

"I saw them too." Vaida motioned. "Beasts on all fours, scouring through the sands."

"Wolves?"

"No," Erk said thinking back. "They were more…feline. Like lions."

"I see. Did you see their leader?"

All of them shook their heads. "Alright then. Go and prepare yourselves. I'll get the others."

Mark went around to the entire camp, waking his fighters. They all assembled and Mark gave them directions basing off of Lyn's reading. The opposition was no doubt hostile, as it tried to attack Florina and several others when they went out to meet with the army. The formations were in straight lines. The answer was simple. Simply pick them off line by line.

The plan worked rather well… for about ten minutes. Then the army saw what was happening and decided to go berserk and kill everything in its path. Mark motioned to the lords to follow him into the thick and find the leader to end the fighting quickly. As they were rushing through, Mark noticed that indeed, something was amiss. Their opponents weren't humans, but really large cats. Lions and tigers would be a closer description of them. They had different colored furs; Mark swore that he saw a blue furred one being taken down by Erk's Elfire.

They finally reached to the end of a sand dune when they saw a looming shadow. Perhaps it was just coincident, or perhaps I'm using it for dramatic effects, but the moon came out from behind the clouds, basking the figure in its pale light.

The man was heavily muscle-bounded and had tattoos all over his body. He was also taller than any member of the group and was almost as twice as tall as Mark, though he is rather short (He's shorter than Lyn). From the looks of it, he could have picked Hector up and snapped him in half, something that Mark did not want to think about. He wasn't wearing a shirt but he was wearing the 'thing' that Hawkeye wears.

He spoke in a low growl slowly. "So you are the ones I am to target. You do not seem so strong. Heed my words, I am Leonis. I am here to take the target, Mark, to his rightful place. You need not fight me. Just show me where Mark is."

Lyn instinctively moved in front of Mark, but he sidestepped her. "Here I am, what do you want of me?"

"I only ask that you come back with me to where you belong. That is all."

"No way. Mark ain't going anywhere." Lyn cried. She ran forward with her Mani Katti drawn.

"Foolish," Mark and Leonis muttered. Leonis stood there while Mark ran forward and tackled Lyn out of the way.

At that moment, Leonis finished charging up and punched with his right hand yelling, "Fist of the Beast King!" An orange fiery lion head shot out of his hand and razed the area where Lyn was standing had Mark not pushed her out of the way.

"Why do you save her?"

"Because she is my friend."

"Hmm… so I see. My information was not misled. You truly are under their spell." He charged up again, this time using his left hand. "Curse of the Beast King." A purple lion head shot out heading for Eliwood who jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, part of his cape seemed to…melt…I think…away…

Yeah, it melted away. Mark looked up to see it happening. "Be careful of his 'Curse of the BK'. If it touches your armor, it'll melt it. If it touches you, I don't want to think about it."

"Yeah, we kinda got that part from what happened to Eliwood here. Why don't you tell us something we don't know?"

Mark bit back a retort. This was neither the time nor place. "Alright then, if you get hit with it, you have a chance of being melted or poisoned, depending on what he feels like. His 'Fist of the BK' doesn't have any special effects, but it will hurt like hell."

"Say wha-?" Hector started but got nailed by a 'Fist of the BK'. Luckily, Renault was standing nearby and healed Hector up before rushing back into the battle.

They kept going by trading blows. They had hoped that he would tire out sooner or later, but it had been half an hour since they started and he doesn't seem to be tiring at all. They, however, were wiped out.

"Come Mark. If you truly wish to see my worth, why are you hiding behind those weaklings? Why not fight me to judge my words?"

Mark stared at this guy as if he was crazy. Him fight? He couldn't fight to save his life. Which was pretty much the point of fighting. Being distracted like this didn't help him. Lyn was unfortunate enough to get a 'Fist of the BK' right in the gut. She was sent back flying and sprawled on the ground.

"LYN!" They all screamed as they ran up to her. Mark noticed that she was bleeding from the mouth, she can be internally bleeding. Eliwood was signaling for a healer while Hector was warding off some of the cats.

For some odd reason, Mark just wanted to kiss her. This wasn't really appropriate, she was vulnerable and defenseless, and so why did that just made kissing her appeal to him all the more? It wasn't just the kiss, he also craved for blood. Why? It wasn't the new moon. He can see it right behind the guy. Giving in to his desires (naughty) and hoping for the best, he leaned down and kissed her gently.

A pulse of energy dispersed the air. Mark stood up and stared at Leonis. A small trickle of blood ran from the corners of his lips. He did more than kiss her, he drank her blood. Mark's eyes were no longer golden. They were a violent shade of red.

Mark rushed forward at Leonis, who had no time to even blink. In less than two seconds, a perfect circle was blown through Leonis' chest. Mark's hand didn't even touch him. Leonis could only look at Mark and the rather big hole in his chest in surprise. Mark regained himself and noticed in shock what he had just done.

"Hahaha," Leonis started laughing. "I see now. Mark's mind been taken over by bad people." His grammar seemed simpler now too. "No worry Mark. We get you back. 'rivers run red like blood, reflected by the-…'" He gasped out his final words as he fell backwards and died. At that, it seemed like the rest of his army faded away. Some slipped in to the shadows, some were claimed to have become the shadows.

Mark stood up shakily. Lyn was mostly healed now by the stave users, though she'll have a difficult time doing anything strenuous for two or three days. She made her way over to him. In an act of pure turmoil emotions, he pulled her closed and cried in her chest. Lyn was shocked at this display. Mark was a tactician. One who saw death for what it really was and what it really meant. But here he was, crying over one opponent. They must have killed several hundreds, if not thousands, over their journey.

Then she realized something. Even if Mark was a tactician, he was really just a small kid. No child should ever have to witness death, more or less cause it. Some can deal with it, others can't. Which one was Mark? Some can deal with it, or have to deal with it because of something that happened in their early lives. Did something like that happen to Mark as well? Lyn didn't waste anytime pondering the questions. She did the only thing that felt right. She pulled Mark even closer and hugged him back.

Mark was eventually well enough to be walked back to his tent. No one was checked over by Mark, but they were fine with it. They were healed up well enough by the healers. After reaching his tent, Mark wouldn't let Lyn go. He kept a tight hold on her arm but didn't look her in the eye. He only stared at the wall in front of him.

Lyn looked up to Hector and Eliwood who gave her a helpless look. Lyn nodded her head and moved on the bed with Mark. Mark rolled over slightly so he was now partly on top of her. Lyn wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him in closer. Eliwood and Hector decided to leave the two where they were, as to not ruin the moment.

That night, Lyn had another vision. It was flashes of the mysterious figure that was talking to Tamara and Tarin. He was still covered in shadows and only looked down and shook his head sadly. She woke up suddenly.

She heard Mark muttered, "Aniki-san…" before falling silent again. She fell back to sleep quickly and forgot about it in the morning.

I'm not really sure if I like this chapter. I mean, not so much have happened. The story is getting thicker. The plot is probably going to have several more twists in it. Plot twists are funny, just like in Tales of Symphonia. So hopefully I'll get some more written and update it the week after this, but that is if I have any time out of my projects so I'm not making any promises.

Mark is down because he killed Leonis but didn't know that he was doing it. All of the previous deaths caused by him directly or indirectly were known and planned out. Well, all except one. Let's see if you remember when it happened. That's why he's freaked out right now. He is worried that he might go beserk around his friends the next time and kill them without knowing it. Knowing that you could have stopped something, but didn't is a horrible feeling. Like Survivor's Guilt.