WARNING: Dark themes are occurring in this chapter. I did not up the rating for the story, because the story itself is not Mature, but this chapter is. I never meant for this story to be all fluff, as you probably guessed when I introduced the villain. I deeply apologize if it offends anybody, but it will come into play in the future. If you do not like dark themes, I will mark the area where it starts and ends so you can just skip over it and keep reading.

I hope you all like this chapter, regardless. And if you don't hate me after it, I'd love for you to drop a comment to let me know if I'm still keeping everyone in character or if you didn't give up on my story because of this. *major sweatdrop* Your comments make my day and really encourage me to keep writing when I lose my drive. Thank you for all of those who have supported this story thus far

EDIT This darn site cut off so much of my review responses! I fixed now, I'm so sorry .

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I stood silently, feeling Emil's gentle hands slide my zipper up. Feeling his hands shake slightly, I chuckled.

"W-what's so funny, Marta?" Emil asked nervously, his hands slowly and cautiously leaving my back. I spun around, grinning and looking straight into his bright emerald eyes. I reached for his shirt and undid one of the top buttons that seemed to be almost choking him.

"Relax a little, Emil. This is a party, you're supposed to have fun," I reminded him. Emil nervously smiled at me, obviously still shy at seeing me in such nice attire. He scratched the back of his neck, shaking his head.

"Why did we agree to this again?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(6 hours earlier)

"So, who else have you told about this?" Zelos inquired.

"Honestly, I just found out a few days ago, so you two are the only ones," I told him. Zelos nodded.

"Well, we definitely should let everyone else know. But...it'd probably be easier just to round everyone up at once and tell them," Sheena suggested. "I'll have the Mizuho intelligence network scout everyone, but...where should we meet up?"

"I know."

We all turned towards Zelos as a wide grin spread across his face. "Looks like we'll have a party after all!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Right."

I stretched up and kissed Emil softly, slowly pulling back and staring into his pale green eyes to see how he'd react. Emil placed his hands on my lower back, kissing me back. I closed my eyes, losing myself in the feeling of his lips on mine. I could feel our hearts pounding in erratic rhythms, and as I wrapped my arms around his neck, our bodies were pressed fully together, deepening the kiss. I tangled my fingers in his sandy hair, breathing hot air onto his mouth as I gasped between kisses. Emil left my lips and nuzzled his head into my neck, kissing the tender skin. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply, catching my breath as I wrapped my arms around him.

"I love you so much, Marta," Emil choked, shocking me as he started to tremble. My eyes snapped open and I gasped, feeling something wet on my shoulder. As I looked at Emil, I saw he was hiding his face in my shoulder, strangled cries escaping his throat as he tried to suppress his tears. His whole body shook and trembled with every sob, and he clutched me like his life depended it on it. "S-so much. I love y-you...s-so much."

My eyes were still wide in shock as Emil's sudden vulnerability started to strike my heart. My eyes softened, and before I knew it, my own tears started to drip down my cheeks silently. I held Emil tightly, rubbing his back soothingly and kissing his hair. "It's okay, it's okay, I'm here, you're okay," I cooed into his ear, my heart shattering at the sight of him so emotionally vulnerable and exposed.

Finally, as Emil's sobs turned into quiet hiccups, he pulled back, tear stains still evident on his cheeks. I gave him a sad smile as I gazed into his eyes, my thumbs caressing the skin under his eyes. Emil closed his eyes, his brow furrowed almost as if he was in pain. He leaned into my touch, grabbing my hands and slowly kissing both of them. "I-I...I don't deserve you Marta-"

"Shhh," I cut him off, placing a finger over his lips. "Come on Emil, let's go have fun and forget about everything else for a while. Okay?" I smiled up at him, as he towered over me. Emil gently smiled back.

"Okay."

I intertwined my fingers with his, tugging him out the door. Zelos had given us a room in the Meltokio Royal House to freshen up before the party. I touched my hair, which was up in an elegant bun with my flower clips adjacent to it. My dress was chosen by Zelos, a brown and pink knee-length layered tier skirt that somewhat resembled a mushroom in shape, and a tighter, pink bodice, with off the shoulder straps to accentuate my bone structure, paired with black heels. Emil looked equally as dashing. He was clothed in a white button down shirt, with a navy waistcoat over top that had two long tails that floated behind him. Coupled with black pants and shoes, Emil looked like the perfect gentleman. Gleefully I hooked my arm with his, allowing him to lead me into the ballroom.

"BUUUUUUD TWOOOO!"

Following the noise across the room, we spotted Zelos waving energetically at us with giggling girls on either side of him. He quickly strode over to us, his entourage of hunnies following in close pursuit. Zelos clapped Emil on the back, hugging him close to his side. I giggled, seeing Emil's face flush from all the attention.

"Ladies, I'd like you to meet my bud Emil."

My grin curled into a frown as I noticed all the girls suddenly focused on Emil, winking at him and grinning.

"Oh, Emil, is it? What a nice name."

"He's a real cutie."

"Ah, he's as handsome as Master Zelos!"

"Excuse me?" I growled, my face flushing a deep red color as anger bubbled quickly to the surface. I couldn't believe they even had the audacity to say these kind of things to my Emil.

Emil squirmed uncomfortably under their gaze, slipping out from Zelos' arm and reclaiming the spot by my side. He cleared this throat. "I-I'm sorry...my heart belongs to Marta."

I stared in shock as those few words processed in my mind. Such a bold proclamation of love for me was unusual for the shy boy. I looked up at him, dumbfounded, but he just gave me a shy smile, grabbing my hand.

All of the ladies returned to Zelos' side, and before he left, he called to us, "Oh, by the way, Sheena told me the others are on their way. We're all meeting outside in an hour!"

Spinning around so that I faced Emil, I grinned up at him. "Would you mind...dancing with me, Emil?" I asked tentatively.

Emil simply smiled and led me to the dance floor, pulling me close to him. I leaned against his muscular, lean frame, breathing in his scent contently as we glided around the dance floor. I treasured every second like it was my last with him. Emil leaned down slightly and whispered into my ear, "Tenebrae actually looks happy for once."

I giggled. "That would be a first." I stared straight into Emil's clear emerald eyes, smiling as we spun around the dance floor, both of us content in the other's presence. However, after a song or two, someone tapped me on my shoulder.

"May I have this dance, my lovely flower?"

I turned around to see the all-too familiar redhead bowed over and extending his hand. I laughed and looked at Emil, who in turn smiled.

"That's okay, I'll go get us some refreshments." I nodded and turned towards Zelos, assuming the standard dancing position. As we danced, Zelos spoke with me.

"So, are you glad he's back, even in these circumstances?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

I frowned. "Of course. I mean, it's not exactly ideal, but...I love him. And I don't care how many battles I have to fight, how many wars I have to go through, or how long I have to search, my life will never be complete without him. So, even though the circumstances aren't the best, I'm prepared to fight till the last breath for a chance to live a normal life with Emil. And in no way am I planning on giving him up to this Reti bastard," I huffed.

Zelos snickered. "That's what I like to hear."

As song ended, Zelos bowed respectfully, but then drew me into a tight hug, whispering into my ear, "Stand by what you believe. I promise, if you do that, you'll never live with any regrets."

Zelos kissed my cheek before breaking away to rejoin his hunnies, leaving me standing there dumbstruck. I guess he wasn't as big of an airhead as he pretends to be. I shook my head, trying to process what he told me. I pushed my way through the crowd into a secluded area, sitting down in my own company. I breathed a heavy sigh, feeling somewhat emotionally exhausted. However, someone suddenly clapped a hand over my mouth, and before I could scream, something hit me overhead so hard I blacked out.

xX START Xx

As I slowly regained my senses, I could feel a bitter, nasty taste in my mouth. I tried to wipe my mouth with my hand, until I realized they were bound. In fact, so were my feet. The bitter taste in my mouth was a gag. My eyes snapped open, finding myself in a dimly lit room, lying on a cold, wooden floor with two female figures standing over me. One of them laughed.

"Oh geez, she's so pathetic! Just look at her."

I looked up with terrified eyes, my heart pounding against my ribcage. Calm down Marta, I told myself. Emil...Emil will come! He must've noticed you missing by now. He'll be here any minute...right?

One of the girls kneeled down next to me, grabbing my face roughly as her piercing blue eyes stared at me. "Aw, look at her Chelsea, she's so terrified! I almost feel bad." The girl kneeling beside me slapped me so hard that my head snapped to the side and into the ground, tears sprung to my eyes involuntarily. As soon as I stopped seeing stars, I noticed that both of these girls had dark tails that swung slowly, curling and uncurling repeatedly. They must have been demons.

"Oh, stop crying you little whore. I don't know why Reti even takes a smigeon of interest in someone as pathetic as you. Regardless, he did request this for you..but he didn't say that we couldn't have any fun with you while doing it! I'm sure he wouldn't mind," the demon regarded as Chelsea sneered. "Come on in, boys! You all know what to do." With that, the two girls were gone, and in their place, two large, greasy, and foul smelling men came in.

I felt the tears stream down my face as I realized what they were planning to do. I tried to scream around my gag as two large men approached with no attempt to hide the lust that reined prevalent on their face. I scrambled as far away as I could, wishing this was just a dream and I'd wake up any second. Unfortunately for me, it was all too real to ever be a dream.

One of them men came up behind me, untying my gag as he muttered sadistically, "Come on, now. I want to hear you scream."

"No...NO!" I yelled frantically. "D-don't touch me!" My body trembled so bad I could hardly feel anything. One of the men cornered me in with his body, his breath tasting of alcohol and cigarettes. He leaned next to my ear, breathing heavily, his dark, greasy hair brushing my cheek as I flinched and whimpered.

"Just behave, and I promise it won't hurt...that much." Him and his blonde friend snickered, and I, in a crazed attempt to push him away, tripped on my own hair and ended up face-first on the ground. In a last ditch effort, I screamed for Emil louder than ever before, certain he would hear me.

The blonde brute seized the moment by pinning my shoulders to the ground and clapping a hand over my mouth.

The sleazy dark-haired grease-ball straddled me, and I felt as though my fragile structure was being slowly crushed. He roughly ripped my dress down the front, leaving me in just my underwear in a split second. Never had I felt so exposed, so dirty. I bit the hand covering my mouth, tasting faint blood before he snatched the limb away. "You BITCH!" he screamed, slamming my head into the floor, causing me to see stars. I screamed out as loud as I could, hoping someone, anyone would hear me.

I sobbed until my pleas were no longer coherent sounds. The man straddling me roughly kissed my mouth, and his grimy hands grabbed my chest painfully. I closed my eyes, tears streaming down my cheeks as the feeling of complete helplessness sunk in. The only thought that went through my mind was an endless apology to Emil, suddenly realizing all the years saving myself for him were going to be for naught. But then, a pain so intense, so unimaginable, wiped any other thing from my mind. An excruciating piercing pain shot through my chest, feeling as though a knife was just thrust into it. For the umpteenth time, I found myself shrieking until my throat hurt.

However, in the back of my mind, I noticed my attackers had stopped cold. I slowly opened my eyes, willing myself to see around the thick tears in my eyes. I barely realized it as the man fell over to the side, a sword protruded from his stomach as he lay on the floor, lifeless. I closed my eyes again, curling myself into a ball as a fresh wave of tears hit me. This is all just a bad dream...

"YOU SICK BASTARD!"

Another sound of slicing flesh, and the only sounds left were the sound of heavy breathing, my sobbing, and the clatter as my savior dropped his weapons.

xX END Xx

"Marta?"

In the recesses of my brain, I recognized that voice, but I was shaking so badly and I couldn't bring myself to stop crying long enough to enjoy the sound of Emil's voice.

He hugged me to his chest tightly, undoing my bonds as I cried lifelessly into his shirt. He wrapped his coat around me, rocking me back and forth in his arms as he tried to get me to calm down. "Shh, shh, you're safe now, Marta. You're safe. I've got you." Emil kissed my hair repeatedly, rubbing my back and holding me in an almost suffocating embrace. I cried for who knows how long, so relieved to be in his arms, but the feeling of their dirty hands on me still lingered on my skin.

"E-Emil..." I choked out, clinging to his shirt.

"I'm right here, Marta. You're safe."

I nodded slightly, barely feeling my feet leave the floor as Emil lifted me up and carried me out of the room that reeked with horrible deeds. Emil kissed my hair, caressing my cheek where I knew a bruise would be forming from all the times I'd been hit. He clutched my frail body to his chest, and suddenly I felt wet droplets landing on me. I realized Emil was crying as well.

"I'm so sorry Marta, if I had only been faster, I...I could've..."

I grabbed into him even tighter. "It's okay...I'm just glad you got here before they...b-before..."

I couldn't help the sob that escaped my lips. I didn't even want to think about what would have happened if Emil hadn't been there. I finally let my body relax, and allowed Emil to carry me to a safer place as my eyes closed and exhaustion took me. However, when you have the privilege of being Marta Lualdi, dreams are even worse than reality.

I was wandering through darkness, the ebony abyss endlessly surrounding me. I couldn't see anything, and their was utter silence aside from my own footsteps. It was so disorienting that it almost made me vomit. However, I suddenly bumped into something, or rather, someone. I looked up, and saw a pair of shockingly purple eyes amidst the darkness. Slowly, a toothy smile appeared, and I felt a roaring pain rip through my heart. I yelled out in pain, clutching my chest, wishing for the agony to stop. It felt like someone had their fingers wrapped around my heart and was slowly crushing it into nothing. I heard a familiar chuckle.

"Oh, Marta, I would behave if I were you. Your life is in my hands, now."

I gasped and jumped awake, shaking and trembling. I almost screamed, but I felt a familiar, reassuring squeeze on my hand. I turned my head on the pillow, allowing my cerulean orbs to meet with Emil's ever so gentle pale green ones. I was dressed in his clothes, I noticed, and we were back in our room. He frowned slightly at me, brushing my bangs back off my clammy forehead with his free hand.

"Did you have a bad dream?" he asked quietly, his concerned eyes probing mine. I felt my eyes tear up, memories coming back to me as the reality of it all hit me full force. I felt my body begin to shake violently against my wishes, and before I knew it, I was sobbing into Emil's shirt again.

"E-Emil..." I choked, clutching him as if he were my lifeline. "I-I'm so sorry."

"Shh," he whispered, holding me firmly. "You don't need to apologize for anything. You can relax. They're gone, and you're safe."

I looked up at him, my sight blurred from tears. I stretched up and kissed him softly, feeling emotionally and physically exhausted, but still needing to feel the familiarity of my Emil. I felt his hands support me, lowering me back down into my pillows. Too exhausted to even dream, my eyes closed again. The last thing I remember was Emil's gentle hands caressing my hair, whispering sweet nothings to me as I dozed off.

When I woke up the second time, everything had settled in. I felt completely numbed. I lacked the energy and the will to feel anything. I walked out of my chamber on Emil's arm to greet the rest of our group, but my gaze was unfocused and dead as I stared, unseeing, at the wood floors. Whenever someone talked to me, they sounded a million miles away. I said nothing, for I did not have the ability nor desire to use my voice yet. Whenever I caught a reflection of myself, I knew something that was painfully clear: Reti had successfully broken me.

Review Responses

Chapter 4 Responses:

Naekane: No no, not at all! I think that's actually a quite realistic view for Emil. I'm just not ready to give up his nervous little high-pitched voice yet :3 *stares at you* Well, someone's one step ahead of me already! Also, I'm glad you agree with me. I feel like it's such an unpopular opinion, but I can't see why. I thought Emil and Marta were great characters with amazing development that you didn't get to see much of in the original. Thank you! I'm glad you liked it ^-^

Diety: I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you for your kind reviews :)

Strawberry Eggs: Thank you so much! Wow, that means so much coming from you, since you're an incredible writer. It's almost a personal goal of mine to make you happy since you are rather detailed and put time into your reviews (which is so appreciated). I mean, saying that I write Marta in character is one of the biggest compliments I've received. Your kind words mean so much to me that it pushes me to keep editing and revising until I believe it is "Strawberry Eggs" quality. So thank you for that, too ^-^

djunk101: Thank you so much! It's not abandoned, I just have a lot going on *sweatdrop*

Lacila: What? Head-canon? I am not worthy! ;u; It makes me so happy that you enjoy it! Thank you for taking time to review, it means the world to me. On the topic of the bad ending, I feel so horrible for the people that got the bad ending on their first playthrough *shiver*

Chapter 5 Responses:

Naekane: Somehow, my mail is wonky and never notified me of your comment until I finished this chapter and went to look *mega facepalm* I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I actually get quite nervous posting my chapters, especially because I am in fact a big fan of you and your writing, as with Strawberry Eggs, so it's always a big challenge to myself to make you all pleased with my story (and if not, learn from it). I was reading your fics the other day to help me get through my block, actually. Lo behold, however, I present you with two updates! Prepare yourself for an assault of feels when I upload the next chapter in a few minutes :3 Oh, and by the way, your comment about Marta made me laugh for like 10 minutes. It's just so...accurate XD I'm glad you found the humor in that. And on the topic of the guards, I don't know why, but I always thought of them as rather ditsy. Especially when you're with Presea in the first one, they're just like:

Guard One: "Oh, woah, who are those guys? Should we arrest them?"

Guard Two: "Nah man it's cool, they said they're with her. Even though they appear to be doing nothing, and we've never seen them before in our entire guarding experience, I'm sure it's fine to let complete strangers into the royal house!"

So yeah, I guess that's why I write them as a few steps behind everyone else ^-^* I'm so glad you're enjoying the story!

diety: Thank you so much for your continued support! I apologize for the lack of updates in my other story; I've been in the middle of a major block D:

Have a lovely day everyone ^-^

-Mary