"This is complete bullshit! I'm not going to take this. He's my partner, I need him for their futures dammit! You tell me right now what happened Chronodia!" Amilia roared and unsheathed her weapons, pointing it towards Chronodia's neck. "I'm not going to ask again."

"Do you remember just who it was that gave you that armour?" Chronodia said, and put a finger below the other woman's chin. "You watch your mouth Amilia."

Amilia sheathed her weapons and clicked her tongue. "I'm working for Garland...for the same reason Claude is. I deserve to know just what the fuck is happening, okay? That wasn't part of the plan and no one informs me on anything. They are my siblings, my family...and he's my partner. I just...I don't want to mess this up."

"I understand completely. But you should run along now child...their future depends on it." Chronodia said and smiled at Amilia, she looked at her with a confused expression but only sighed and did as she was told.

"Damn it Claude..." Amilia thought to herself and rode on her familiar, lying back and watching the clouds roll by. "I can't do this if you're being like this."

~~~ O ~~~

"I did not sign up for this bullshit." Erick said, shivering at the coldness before them. They had travelled north of Crescent Lake and had arrived in a rather out of place cave. The Cavern of Ice.

As its name implies, it was completely frozen on the inside. Quite the opposite of the burnt everything outside. Saria couldn't help but feel very uneasy and so did Ailith. All of them did in fact. It was a feeling that none of them could ignore at all, no matter how cheery they seemed on the outside.

"Okay, I'm going to just break it out guys. I've got a bad feeling about this." Saria cautiously broke out and everyone sighed in relief. The truth simply was they had all felt it, thought that the other hadn't feel it, and decided to try and hide it as best as they could. Although they didn't know that everyone else felt it too.

"Sorry to say you're not the only one." Ailith sighed.

"I feel it too but I'm the leader and you're all my responsibility. I'm going to die before I let anything happen to any of you." Leon boldly stated and sighed. He had to admit it, the feeling was pretty strong and no matter what he said, he couldn't deny that it made him doubt as well.

Throughout the time they walked and talked their worries away, Claude remained silent.

~~~ O ~~~

After what seemed like hours of walking, Leon accidentally stepped on thin ice. He fell and landed almost ten feet below them. It was a lucky catch, because there was a surprise waiting for him there. For all of them actually.

Before him, lay a very small floating stone that seemed to elevate things around it to an extent. Leon called for the others and they followed immediately. All four of them were at awe and shock, while Claude lay there, silent.

"Hey, Claude! C'mon man, join the fun! We gotta get this thing!" Leon said and grabbed the stone. All of them nearly screamed when a barrage of memories flooded their minds.

Airship. Tiamat. Kraken. Temple of Chaos. And most of all...Garland. They had done this before. All of them had done this so many times before. But the end? What lay at the end of the road for them?

Leon dropped the stone and nearly jumped back, gasping for air. His mind wouldn't allow him to remember and then he began to feel pain. Pain so bad he thought his head would split.

"Airship...we have to find an airship." Leon gasped. The others looked at him with wide eyes. Saria asked "You saw it too?"

"Yes. Yes, I saw everything." Leon clutched his head. Claude walked up to the stone and picked it up, raising his other hand and engulfing all of them in a very soothing white light. A sense of protection overcame them and their headaches dissolved almost instantly the moment they felt it. All of them sighed and dropped to the floor. But then...Leon noticed something strange. "Claude...how did you touch the stone?"

"My guess would be that someone rigged it with a memory spell. I wasn't within the vicinity of the spell, so it didn't affect me." Claude calmly stated. Erick stayed silent for a while, pondering. Then, after a few minutes, he ran up to Claude and pinned him to the wall.

"You know something. That spell...I traced the energy line, don't take me for a fool. That spell was yours!" Erick yelled at him and Claude only looked at him calmly, unaffected. Everyone's eyes turned towards Claude with disbelief.

"Get away from him!" Came a feminine voice from behind all of them. Leon and Saria couldn't believe their ears from who it was they heard. Was it really her?

Claude pushed Erick away and a woman wearing a mask threw a kunai at Claude. It was attached to a string and another kunai, and impaled his stomach. The woman pulled the string and Claude was sent flying her way. She immediately caught him, bringing her nailed knuckles to his stomach. They began to whisper something to each other.

"Your timing's perfect." Claude said and coughed up blood.

"Of course, just who do you think your partner is? May I repeat, your partner." Amilia whispered and then sighed. "I don't know what you're planning but...I'll trust you for the time being. So please...please just explain to me later."

"I will, but only if what you say about trusting me is really the truth. Good luck taking the stage from now on." Claude said and coughed up blood. He stumbled back and made one more attack, before it was violently blocked by Leon. Claude was caught off guard. There was a ferocity in Leon's eyes that he's never seen. Feral. Protective. This was definitely their leader. Claude smiled slightly and tipped his hat, before he unsheathed his sword and cut a portal through the air.

"W-Wait!" Ailith yelled and reached out, but was too late. Claude jumped into the portal and disappeared.

Leon stayed silent for a while looking at the ground, before sheathing his weapon and trying to grab Amilia by the neck. She was fast though, and he missed. Leon glared at her and so did Saria. She tried her best not to make eye contact and turned away. Their eyes...

Their eyes...

Confusion and betrayal riddled them, and Amilia knew exactly what they were thinking. She had a lot of explaining to do, and with the way her siblings were looking at her...She just couldn't find it in herself to face them. "I-I...Look, I-"

Amilia felt a sharp pain on her face and before she knew it, her head was tilted sideways. Saria was looking at her, her palm outstretched and to the side. She had just slapped Amilia.

"Where were you?" Saria said and by her very breath, all the more Amilia couldn't look at her. Saria's hands shook and her body was trembling, but not because she was scared or angry...because she was crying. Both her and Leon. "S-Saria...I..."

"Where were you!?" Saria shouted.

"I...I'm sorry. Just...look, I um..." Amilia couldn't spit anything out. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, regaining her composure. "We...we need to restore the crystals. I've been doing a bit of...undercover work and Claude has been working for someone, a really dark and powerful force. We need to stop them. The first step is to restore the crystals."

"That's it? I'm sorry. That's it!?" Leon yelled at her. She stepped back and held her breath. "You go away for more than half of our lives and just pop up again!?"

"Well, I'm here now. If it matters." Amilia said sarcastically, her rather dry humor not even helping in the slightest. "Listen, I'm sorry. But our reunion isn't gonna change the fact that we have to stop Claude!"

They didn't listen.

Amilia sighed and tried to explain. "Leon, Saria...I'm sorry. Do you know how hard it was for me? Do you know how many times I've wanted to just...help you. To save you when you needed it. I-"

"Do you know...just how long we've searched?" Leon said, his voice devoid of emotion. Amilia couldn't speak.

"We thought you were dead, sis." Saria added. Amilia's heart broke. Amilia stepped back and for once, the woman who could hold her own against an army without so much as breaking a sweat, became helpless. Under the only ones who could make her feel that way...because of her dearest siblings.

"I have no right to butt in, but we have to...do something with this." Erick said, pointing to the stone. Leon and Saria gave Amilia one last look before turning away and taking it.

Amilia gave a long sigh and followed the party out of the cave.

"There's something wrong with this." Ailith said and Erick looked at her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I know."