Chapter 63: Bitter Endings

Asch only knocked once, opening the door to the room he shared with Guy and his sibling before getting any kind of answer. The eldest redhead brought a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun that shone through the window, momentarily blinding him before he moved from its path. Luke still lay in bed, facing away from the door Asch had walked in, with his blankets pulled all the way up over his shoulders. Asch sighed; he wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but really. He wasn't even out of bed yet? Luke was nowhere near ready to get going.

"Up and at 'em lazy," Asch shot teasingly. "If you don't get up soon Jade's going to leave without you." Fully expecting some sort of jibe in return, Asch was surprised when nothing came. In fact, Luke didn't even budge and being so completely ignored vaguely annoyed the older sibling.

"Seriously," the older sibling tried again. "Everyone's waiting for us; it's time to get up. We're late as it is." Still no reaction; a mischievous grin spread across his face. It had been years since he'd had to resort to using water...

The thought was tempting, and in fact had it been any other instance he probably would have walked right back out that door and found himself a pail of cold water, but something, and even Asch couldn't quite figure out what, stopped him. There was a small nagging, an inkling at the back of his mind that was bothering him... something that just wasn't quite right. With a defeated sigh, he walked around and sat himself down on the bed.

"Luke-" the young monarch cut himself off when Luke quickly turned, burying his face in his pillow in attempt to hide his swollen red eyes and the tears that still lingered. He wasn't quite quick enough; regardless, his actions alone betrayed what he was trying to hide. "Luke... what's the matter? What's wrong?" A sudden flicker of panic lit within Asch, searing away the trivial annoyance he'd been feeling. As soon as he'd seen it, the little thorn turned into an all consuming presentiment. Something was wrong.

Luke didn't offer any kind of answer, which only spurred on Asch's concerns. He placed a hand gently on his little brother's back; Luke shuffled, bringing one of his arms up to wipe his eyes, still with his head buried in the white cotton pillowcase. Asch's mind started racing. Just what was going on? What had Luke so upset? Was he having nightmares again? That didn't seem right... it wasn't like he'd been paying any special attention, but somehow, Asch just knew that it wasn't the case. But even if it was nightmares... what had happened to cause them? Other than their encounter with Cantabile, nothing that could be remotely considered "bad" had happened in the past few weeks, so why now? Asch sat there; finding himself comfortingly rubbing Luke's back, trying to discover an answer he wasn't going to find. He had to know...

Reaching across their connection, Asch was surprised to meet resistance. One of Luke's green eyes looked up at him, dry now... but with a fearful light still shining within it. The younger sibling softly shook his head. Asch's presence was a threat, trivial as it had become, it would take no more than that to break down the barrier Luke erected and loose whatever pain he'd sealed away upon him. Luke looked up at his brother, crying for help, but in the same gaze begging Asch not to pry any further. He couldn't share this, he'd promised. Yet, if Asch forced his way in, Luke would fold; they both knew it... because he didn't have the strength anymore.

Asch opened his mouth to say something, but before he could contemplate what he could possibly say, the door of the room flew open. The ensuing smash of the doorknob against the wall made Asch jump; next to him, Luke remained buried beneath his covers, completely disconnected from the world around him.

"What's the matter?" Asch demanded, the flicker of panic igniting at the sight of the frantic expressions on his friends as they rushed into the room. "What's going on?" Suddenly they all froze; no one wanted to be the first to say anything.

"Anise is missing," Guy stated after a moment. "And- and..."

"And?"

"They're saying... that Ion passed away last night," he finally managed.

"What?" Asch's eyes widened in shock but they immediately flew towards Luke, everything suddenly falling into place.

He knew.

"Wh- But how?" Asch stuttered, complete disbelief crashing over him. He stood up from the bed, walking over towards the door where everyone was standing. "Wasn't he getting better? Or was this...?" He allowed himself to trail off, trying to keep the implications of his words from Luke.

Tear shook her head. "It seems that Ion had the doctors lie to us," she said meekly. "He wasn't well at all; he was on his deathbed this whole time."

"He had been recovering at first," Jade filled in when Tear seemed unable to continue. "But he took a turn for the worse some weeks ago and they were unable to do anything for him."

"Have you seen him?" Asch asked.

"No," Guy answered. "They wouldn't let us past. We spoke with the doctor that had been called and he gave us the story."

Asch pondered what he'd been told for a moment, allowing it all to sink in. Ion had died... somehow it didn't quite seem real, but the state he'd found Luke in left him more inclined to believe the story his friends relayed. Still... how did Luke know?

"Something about this seems fishy," Asch finally stated. "He was sick... but for it to get this bad? Maybe we should go see for ourselves. After Cantabile showed up yesterday, and the timing with Daath and the countries just having decided to stand against Mohs... I'm worried this isn't exactly what it seems."

"Yes, we should ascertain whether or not foul play was involved," Jade agreed.

"Maestro Tritheim could give us permission to go see him," Tear provided. Her voice was hard and cold, more formal than Asch had heard her use in a long time. She was trying her hardest to keep face. Asch nodded, sending her as much gratitude as he could muster amidst the muddled mess his thoughts had become. No one knew what to think right now, but there was one thing of which Asch was sure.

"Luke, you should stay-" Asch turned around and was so surprised to see Luke standing behind him that the remainder of his request was lost to the morning air. Luke was still wearing the clothes he'd had on yesterday except for the jacket that had vanished somewhere; he must have slept in them. He didn't say a word, Asch suspected it was because he didn't trust himself to say anything and maintain whatever strength he'd built up; but his eyes made it clear that he was coming too.

Asch didn't know how much he liked the idea of Luke coming. There was no saying what state they'd find Ion in, and Luke was shaken as it was. If things turned out to be as he feared, there really was no saying if Luke would be able to recover. As if sensing his thoughts, Luke sent him a weak look that was supposed to be determined, but came across more pleading than anything else. Asch managed a small smile that he was sure was filled with all the pity he was trying not to show. With Luke it was just impossible, after all, he could feel how much Luke was hurting inside. The strength that it must have taken him to stay calm, to keep that straight face on even as everyone continued to discuss the repercussions of Ion's death behind him, Asch just couldn't shoot all that effort down. Luke felt he owed it to Ion, it wasn't his place.

"Okay, you can come too," Asch conceded. Luke nodded softly and followed his friends out the door. Asch placed his arm around Luke's shoulder and frowned when he felt his little brother sink into it. This would be a harsh test... for all of them.

Security around Ion's room was unbelievably tight; guards stood every few feet along the halls, crowding the narrow corridors of the cathedral's upper levels. Only Maestro Tritheim's permission allowed them up here, making the heavy atmosphere all the more stifling. Ion's office was completely empty, the furniture untouched in what seemed like ages, layers of dust betraying the Fon Master's recent inactivity. It was dead silent up here; Asch didn't find the pun amusing.

It wasn't until they saw him that Asch realized just how much colour Ion had always possessed. The young monarch had always thought of Ion as unhealthily pale, but seeing him white and completely devoid of colour, he retracted every statement he'd ever made. The Fon Master still lay in his bed, looking to the world like he was sleeping. Asch hesitantly reached over, and brushed a few stray hairs from Ion's forehead. A frown spread across his face and a small pit started to grow in his stomach. Ion was cold, yet... he somehow looked peaceful. All of Asch's theories crumbled before what he'd swear was a gentle smile on their friend's face.

"It doesn't seem like there was any suspicious activity involved," Jade finally commented, having come over to inspect the young boy himself. His voice broke through the silence but did nothing to lift the indissoluble tension that flooded the room. "It looks as if he died in his sleep."

"So it really was because he was sick..." Tear said.

"Don't blame yourself Tear," Guy intervened, knowing full well what that tone in her voice meant. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Doesn't it? He got sick because he had been weak from healing me."

"No," Jade interrupted. "Perhaps that might be the case, but he was recovering," the Necromancer pointed out. "Though the fact that he fell ill in the first place may be partially attributed to his decision to use a Daathic Fonic Arte to heal you, it would have taken something else to allow it to get this bad." Jade picked up a discarded handkerchief and unfolded it, revealing a cleverly hidden smear of blood. "It looks like the pneumonia had set deep within his lungs. No doubt it eventually started to attack his heart."

"That must have been awful," Tear commented, bringing a hand to her mouth as she noticed how many handkerchiefs lay discarded around his bed. Knowing what to look for made the evidence all the more obvious, and the previously masked red smears on the sheets and pillows suddenly stood out like small fires on a moonless night.

A sob escaped Natalia and Tear placed an arm comfortingly around her shoulders. Natalia gratefully accepted the gesture, her emotions becoming all the more difficult to control with the presence of Tear as a support. Of all people, Ion didn't deserve this. Not that anyone truly did, but for someone so kind and so innocent to have suffered such a great deal, all in silence. It just seemed so cruel. Natalia wiped her eyes, she had to try and keep herself together, for Luke's sake if for no one else's. He would take this the hardest.

"Master... are you okay?"

Mieu's small voice drew Asch's attention and Luke's absence suddenly hit him. His eyes darted around the small chamber. Where was- But Asch hadn't even completed the worried thought when he spotted the small cheagle and next to him was his little brother; Luke hadn't even made it into the room.

Luke had collapsed onto his knees in front of a tray that was sitting in the doorway. Asch hadn't even noticed it before; they'd all just stepped over it without giving it a second thought. Several shattered dishes still sat on the small tray, pieces of glass escaping its confines to the floor around it. The food had all mixed together, covered by the orange juice that had once sat in the broken glass. Luke's eyes were wide in shock and his arms were shaking, hovering above the tray as if he were about to pick it up.

The narrow door was the only thing that kept Asch from going to Luke's side, even though he knew there was little he could offer. From the corner of his eye, he saw Guy going through the same thought process. Asch tried across their connection again, surprised to find no form of resistance this time. His frown only deepened; Luke's mind was completely empty, shut down and unable to process any kind of thought. He was in shock. Complete and utter shock, perhaps even the beginnings of denial... and Asch wondered what and how much Luke had really known this morning. Had Luke known how sick Ion really was? Was that why he'd been so upset? Still, even knowing, it didn't dull the pain in the least. The sudden news of his death... it was still a harsh blow.

"I wonder who was the unfortunate one to find him this morning," Jade commented, noticing the tray that had caught Asch's attention. With the lies Ion had the doctors tell, it was no surprise it had caught whomever it was off guard.

"Guys..." Guy finally spoke up. "Anise is still missing. Do you think she knows what happened?"

"Wait... she was coming up here to see Ion this morning," Natalia suddenly realized. "She must have seen him..." the Princess couldn't finish her sentence.

"I'm sorry," an older woman interrupted. She looked like someone who worked here at the cathedral, and had been sent, no doubt, to begin the morbid duty of cleaning up Ion's quarters while proper arrangements were made. "But do you mean Anise Tatlin, his former Guardian?"

"Yes..." Asch provided.

"It's just that I saw her earlier this morning, it seems she took off after Lady Arietta."

"We have to go after her," Guy stated.

"Yeah," Asch agreed, earning a nod from the others. "She can't have gotten far."

"Come on Luke," Asch said softly, helping his sibling to his feet. He managed to get a half-hearted nod from Luke and the younger redhead followed behind his friends in a daze. Asch choked back the pit that had sprouted into a vine, wrapping itself very finely around his neck. They'd lost Ion... and if this kept up, he didn't know if Luke would ever come out of it either. The hollowing emptiness that echoed from his little brother's mind weighed on him adding to his own emotions. They needed to find Anise... then... then they would have to find a way to start dealing with things. For the world that Ion had wanted to build... and for themselves so that they could protect it with all the will he had passed on to them.

Anise wasn't anywhere to be found within the cathedral. Thankfully, more than one person had seen her and Arietta bolt from Ion's quarters what they had established wasn't any more than an hour ago. Thanks to everyone's help, the search wasn't drawn out, and no one was quite sure whether they should be grateful or not. Jade stopped only once, a brief discussion with one of the physicians, clarifying a few points that none of them understood. Between, that and the short jaunt from Ion's room to the entrance everyone had a brief moment to collect their thoughts, though it wasn't nearly long enough. Unfortunately, they were going to need every second of it. Natalia and her companions passed through the cathedral's massive doors, and no sooner had they stepped outside, did their search end.

Ligers snarled as the group approached, snapping at their attempts to pass by, but making no offensive moves otherwise. At the bottom of the stairs, a similar group of ligers stood, though none of the citizens seemed intent on trying to get by and instead warily went about their way. The message was clear... no one was allowed to pass. But what was the cause of such peculiar behaviour? A ferocious roar drew Natalia's attention to the answer.

Arietta sat on the back of a massive yellow liger, the same one they'd seen accompanying her on Feres Isle. The once pristine white mane was stained red and Arietta hadn't been entirely spared the injuries her loyal companion had. With a second fierce roar, the liger lunged its claws reaching out and the sound of Anise's cry filled the air. A whelp; Tokunaga caught the liger in the stomach, knocking the air from its lungs and flinging it into the air. In spite of its injuries, the liger oriented itself and landed cleanly on its feet.

"I'll never forgive you!" Anise yelled, hysteria already evident in her normally confident voice. She didn't seem outwardly as dishevelled as her opponent, but a closer look revealed almost as many injuries. How long had the two of them been fighting like this? And why the barrier of ligers? They weren't... this couldn't be... a duel?

"How could you! How could you have killed Ion?" Anise charged forward, lunging at the former God-General, the sharp tip of her mace missed and Arietta's arte caught her full force, knocking her from her doll.

"I never killed him!" Arietta yelled back. "He died because of you! Because you didn't take care of him!" She struck but Anise dodged the hit and went for a strike of her own. Arietta's blood added another stain to her liger's mane, but her bleeding arm meant little in the face of the opponent she was set on destroying.

"Stop this! You've got to stop!" Like snapping out of a daze, Luke suddenly ran forward, stumbling over himself as he yelled, his voice frantic and bordering hysterical. One of the ligers stepped in his way and growled. No one was allowed to interfere. Luke shook his head in disbelief, and Asch readied himself in case Luke tried to break past. He was in no condition to be fighting anything. Thankfully, Luke seemed to accept the barrier Arietta's monsters had created, but that didn't deter him in the least.

"Don't you dare try to stop me!" Anise seethed in the most venomous tone any of them had ever heard her use. "I'll never let her get away with what she did. After everything..."

"Anise, Ion was sick!" Luke yelled. "He died because he was sick! He died because... because... he died..." Luke fell to his knees.

"He died because of Arietta! The doctors even said it! He was getting better!" Anise screamed. "Then he suddenly started getting worse, right around the time Arietta came back to take care of him." No one missed the vehemence Anise put into her words, her eyes watering with rage as her gloved fists trembled. "She poisoned him! After all that stuff she said... she still followed orders! She said- she said she'd protect Ion, and she killed him!"

"I'm not you, Anise!" Arietta screamed back, her own eyes equally wet with anger and the emotions she rode were far more powerful than the liger's back on which she sat. "I'm not some petty slave to Mohs! This is all your fault! If you had taken care of him- if you had been protecting him instead of being a spy and a traitor and putting him in all those situations, then he wouldn't have gotten that weak and hurt! If I'd stayed his guardian, I would have protected him! He never would have ended up like this!"

Anise skirted around Arietta's arte and unleashed one of her own. The former God-General wasn't fazed by the assault and easily evaded it, countering with a rampant flurry of claws and teeth that tore through Anise's defence. Both girls were possessed with grief. They were completely beyond themselves.

"No one ever cared about me!" Arietta continued as she locked herself in close-hand combat with Anise and Tokunaga. "Nobody! Nobody wanted me! The only person I ever had was Ion! He was the only one who looked after me, and cared about me... Now- now because of you he's gone! I will never forgive you for taking him away from me! Ever!"

"Stop! You have to... you have to stop!" Luke screamed hysterically, but his heart-wrenching cries fell on ears deafened by loss and only everyone else who watched on felt their hearts ripped from their chests. Jade stepped forward, and placed a hand on Luke's shoulder. "Please Jade... make them stop..." he brokenly pleaded.

Jade shook his head. "Don't. They're both beyond the point where logic can settle this. This is something they feel they must do, for the person that they've lost."

"No... no they can't! They-" Luke couldn't continue, the words tearing at his dry throat in his desperation to say something... anything! Something to make them stop! Before they really hurt each other... or- or- This wasn't what Ion had wanted! Ion didn't want this; he never would have wanted them to fight like this. All he had wanted was for them to be happy! For them to be able to smile and continue living even if he wasn't there... not this... never this... So he had to make them stop!

Anise ducked around the stone monument still yelling accusations as she launched her attacks, and was met by Arietta who was no less fierce, in either her words or her strikes. Driven by the same pain, they still found themselves on equal ground with each other. Their space was limited to the two observation platforms on which the First and Second Monuments stood and the stairs that led to the cathedral. Neither seemed to find such a restricted space a problem, nor could they successfully use it to their advantage. They weren't in a battle of strategy or planning; their fight was no more than a punching match, lashing out at the one they blamed for the loss that neither could begin to deal with. If this was going to end, either one of them had to get the other to concede the blame, or one would have to get the advantage and the other would die.

Anise rebounded off the Second Monument, launching herself at the former God-General. Arietta leapt from the back of her liger. Anise's eyes widened at the unexpected tactic, the surprise lasting only a split second before Arietta's arte caught her almost point blank. She skid across the ground, Tokunaga not far behind her. Grabbing onto her liger friend, Arietta charged, but Anise scrambled to her feet. Rolling out of the way, her mace came up, piercing the liger's leg and sending Arietta crashing into the dirt. Anise climbed back onto Tokunaga, trying to gather her breath while Arietta recovered.

"I'll never..." Arietta managed between breaths. Her pink hair hung messily in her face, and her uniform was tattered and torn giving her a bedraggled look. None of this, however, did anything to dull the raw determination on her face. "I'll never forgive you for taking my Ion away from me."

"You don't know anything," Anise shot back maliciously.

Luke's eyes widened, the look in Anise's eyes filled him with dread. She wouldn't... she would never use something like that to- to-

"No Anise, you don't know anything!" Arietta cried as she charged forward again. Her movements had slowed with the injury of her companion, but she kept pace and was still more than a threat. "You don't know how much he cared about you, how much he believed in you! He always talked about you! And you couldn't even pay enough attention to him to realize he was sick, to see that he was weak! Instead you forced him to do things for you, things that only made him worse! If it wasn't for you- If it wasn't for you he would still be here! If it wasn't for you it would have been me he still cared about!"

"You're the one who never really cared about Ion!" Anise shouted in protest, Arietta's accusations clearly hitting home. "You say that you cared about Ion.. that you loved him..."

"Anise don't!" Luke screamed, but he could do nothing but watch on in horror.

"But you couldn't even tell you were loving the wrong person! You didn't even notice your Ion died, that you were loving a replica instead!"

Luke's heart stopped.

"You're a liar!" Arietta yelled in outrage, her liger's claws just barely missing Anise's throat.

"The real Ion died two years ago!" Anise continued, sadistically satisfied at the confusion and pain that writhed on Arietta's face. "The Ion you killed, my Ion wasn't even the same person! If you really cared about him, you would have known the difference! You betrayed him, you betrayed him by replacing him!"

"No! That's not true! You're lying!" Arietta lashed out, her moves growing erratic and wild. "He was Ion... he cared about me too! He wasn't a replica! He couldn't be a replica!"

It was all Anise could do to dodge the flurry of attacks that ensued. Responding to its master's emotions, Arietta's liger lashed out, its attacks berserk as the monster sped out of control. Tokunaga lost an arm, and then a leg to the creature's fierce jaws.

"I'll never let you say things like that about Ion again! I'll never let you... never!" Arietta cried, but as she shook her head, the pieces continued to fall into place. Her replacement, the way Ion had changed so suddenly... the facts lined up and no matter how much she desperately tried to kick them out of place, they just fell into alignment once more. "I won't accept that! Ion does care about me! He smiled for me too! It was Ion! He couldn't be a replica!"

Luke felt as if someone had ripped a hole in his chest. The edges of this opened void seared making it next to impossible to breathe. This couldn't be happening... there had to be something, some way to make them understand... to make her understand. For Ion...

"Just because he wasn't your Ion, doesn't mean he didn't care about you too!" Luke yelled in desperation. He just had to make her understand.

Arietta froze.

It was all the opportunity Anise needed.

The dark haired girl lunged forward, her weapon piercing Arietta's gut as the former God-General's blood-curdling scream echoed through Daath. With a swift spin, Tokunaga caught her, sending Arietta crashing into the First Monument. Her blood splattered over the dark stone, leaving a grim trail down as Arietta limply fell into the small garden at the monument's foot.

"Arietta!" Luke's raw scream sent chills up everyone's spines. He frantically broke through the confused ligers and rushed to the fallen girl's side. Luke pulled her up onto his lap, the blood soaking down through his clothes. This... this wasn't...

"Arietta," Luke spoke up in surprise, his voice echoing in the empty entranceway. The cathedral was always eerily empty at night, which only added to the surprise of seeing the former God-General there. Part of him knew she was here looking after Ion, but at the same time he was surprised to cross paths with her on his way up to visit the Fon Master.

"Oh, hello Luke," Arietta replied.

"How's Ion feeling?" Luke asked.

"Well he says he's fine, but sometimes I think he isn't feeling all that well. He just says that to make me feel better."

"Yeah, that sounds like him," Luke agreed with a smile, but Arietta seemed a bit offset by his comment. Luke wished he could retract it. Apparently the original Ion wasn't like that.

"Are you going to see him?"

"Yeah, why? Would you rather I didn't?" Luke inquired. The last thing he wanted was to accidently get Arietta mad at them, things had finally settled down for her.

"No, it's fine. I think he'd like to talk to you. He always speaks about you; he keeps hoping you'll come visit soon."

"Alright, then I'll go see him. Are you off to bed?"

"No, some of the ladies in the kitchen have been teaching me how to cook. I feel bad for the way I left Ion before, and for how I did all those awful things, even when Ion asked me not to... so I'm going to make Ion breakfast in bed to make up for it!" Her eyes lit up with excitement. "I'm going to get up extra early so no one else brings him breakfast first. I'll be the first one. Maybe it will help him feel better!" Arietta said with a smile.

Luke couldn't help but return the gesture. It was the first smile... the very first genuine smile he could ever remember seeing on her. It lit up her face and for the first time, she looked happy.

"I'm sure it will."

Only the weight of Arietta's body kept Luke's arms from rattling. Blood still poured from her, covering Luke and staining the ground around them, leaving a crimson dew on broken flowers. Luke's head continued to shake, this just- just- couldn't be... it wasn't supposed to be like this!

"Wh-where..." Arietta's voice came out quiet and meek, barely louder than a whisper. "Where is Ion?"

"He's right here with you," Luke answered through broken breaths. "Right... where he's always been."

Arietta's hand weakly reached up and Luke took it in his own, gently squeezing back when she grabbed onto it. Her hazy pink eyes met his emerald stare, and she smiled weakly.

"L-Liar..." she said, tears falling onto the flowers below. "Ion's... gone..."

Arietta's body fell limb, her hand slipping from Luke's as the last of her life fled from her. The liger she had fallen from limped over, its massive head leaning in over Luke's shoulder. With its muzzle, it nudged Arietta's head, lifting it only so it could fall limply against Luke's arm. It nudged her again, and again... but she never moved. She would never lift her head again, never open her eyes... never smile and laugh... ever again.

Luke pulled her closer, his chin rested on her head and his sobs broke the eerie silence, tears losing themselves among the strands of her blood stained pink hair.

"What are you doing Luke?" Anise spat. "She's Ion's murderer!"

"Arietta didn't kill Ion!" Luke screamed, rage burning behind his shining green eyes. The sheer vehemence in his stare made Anise instinctively step back. "She never did anything wrong!"

"Wh-What are you talking about!" Anise managed, still unnerved by Luke's reaction. The adrenaline that still coursed through her spurred her fury. What did Luke think he was doing? Ion was gone and he was crying over the person who had taken him away! Of all people! Wasn't Luke one of Ion's closest friends? He should have been helping her, not getting mad at her! "If it wasn't for Arietta, if you hadn't convinced her to come back here, Ion would still- he'd still be alive! This is all your fault, the both of you! Because of you Ion's dead!"

"Anise!" Asch snapped.

"Don't you start trying-" Anise began

"No, what Luke said is correct," Jade intervened. "Ion died because he was unable fight off his illness in his weakened state. It is highly unlikely that any sort of foul play was involved, much less anything on Arietta's part."

"You can't prove that!" Anise shouted.

"The timing of his death alone proves it," Jade replied calmly in spite of the enraged Anise, who even now continued to declare her denial with rebellious brown eyes. A single sharp glare and that condescension fell to pieces around her. "According to the doctors' evaluation of his condition and the natural progression of the disease, he wasn't expected to survive the week; in fact, they were surprised he lasted as long as he did. Had anyone, much less Arietta, been poisoning him, he would have died unusually quickly."

"He held out until the end of the summit," Natalia mumbled. "Even though he wasn't there... it's almost as if he wanted to be certain that the world would be okay..."

"No... that can't be right..." Anise mumbled to herself, shaking her head violently in denial. "Arietta came back... and he started getting worse... I saw her in his room! It had to be her!"

"Arietta's return coincided closely with the return of the miasma," Jade pointed out. "If anything caused him to worsen, it would have been that. The weaker and the ill have been more drastically affected than anyone else."

"It seems a bit soon though, doesn't it?" Guy commented. Something about Jade's theory was off and Guy knew that there was no way Jade didn't realize this. Then again, Guy also knew this was not the time to be undermining it with Anise the way she was and he quickly dropped the subject. The blond was kneeling beside his best friend and trying to comfort Luke who still refused to let go of Arietta. She looked like a broken doll in his arms, and Guy would be the first to say that this left a bitter taste in his mouth. She may have been their enemy at one point, but she didn't deserve this, especially the way everything had played out... it just wasn't right.

"No..." Anise trembled as she sank to her knees, suddenly entranced by the blood that stained her hands and sleeves. Shock overtook her and her entire body began to shake; clenching her fists, she fought in vain against the water that burned behind her eyes. "It's not... this isn't how it's supposed to be..." she managed helplessly.

"Anise..." Natalia kneeled by her side, placing a hand gently on the young girl's shoulder. Sensing the Princess beside her, Anise collapsed into the gesture, clinging to Natalia's top and sobbing, pouring out the remains of her broken heart.

"I really did..." she sobbed. "I really did love him."

"I know you did," Natalia said softly, fighting back tears of her own as she ran her fingers through Anise's black curls.

They all felt it, even Asch, Tear, Jade and Guy, all whom had the strength to hide it, but she knew they felt it too. Losing Ion had left a hole in them all, an empty place in their hearts that would never quite be filled. Certainly, with time and the fond memories they shared, the pain would start to heal, or at least, that what Natalia wanted to believe. Yet, no matter how much time went by a hole would remain. Like the missing piece of a puzzle, no matter how hard one tried, no other piece would ever quite fit, no other piece would ever look right in its place.

Time would not reverse, it could only go forward. So all they could do to reconcile the past was to build a future. One of which he would be proud, where the endless cries that echoed today wouldn't be necessary. If she could ask a favour of Yulia, it would be no more than that.

Watch over us, Ion.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Cantabile's fist smashed against the bloodstained rock, each impact sending pain searing up her arm, but such a superficial sensation was meaningless. She continued to pound on the First Monument, as if her attacks would return the life that had been claimed next to it. She revelled in the pain, it was deserved and a distraction from something that hurt much more.

"Cantabile," Largo's deep voice added to the reassurance of his large hand on her shoulder. "You're going to mess up your good hand if you keep this up."

"Damn it all to hell!" She screamed, giving the hard stone one final blow. The pain made her wince, but a cracked knuckle seemed so completely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. So did her other arm, tied up in a sling. One reason... give her one good reason not to start hunting down those- those- bastards right here and now. But she knew that reason. There was a bigger picture here, a world on the line... a world that Arietta should have been a part of.

"This is all my fault. I came here to get Arietta but I let those bastards drive me off. Now... now it's too late."

Largo let out a heavy sigh, his eyes still caught on the flowers that had been laid at the monument's feet. He pulled a single blossom from the depths of his uniform and added it to the bunch. "What happened to Arietta is regrettable," he said. "But she died defending what she believed in. She died an honourable death."

"That's a load of crap," Cantabile spat. "Those bastards just screwed with her feeling and strung her along until they could murder her! I never should have let this go on for so long..." Cantabile lay her head against the cold stone. The sun dipped down below the horizon, painting it red. "I'm sorry kiddo," darkness concealed the drops that fell to the flowers below. "Don't worry... I swear... I swear on my life that I will avenge you..." Cantabile pulled a flower of her own from her pocket and placed it with the others.

"I will avenge you if it's the last thing I ever do."

The familiarity of the Albiore was welcome after the distraught few days that had been spent in Daath. None of them had done anything useful; the entire Order was a chaotic mess with Ion gone. There wasn't any struggle for succession, or at least there wasn't yet, but just the political implications alone had all the ranking members busy. Teodoro had stepped back in to help things along; really there wasn't anything that Guy or any of his friends could do.

The only reason they were still in Daath was because no one had been ready to leave. No one had the strength to start thinking about what would come next, except probably Jade, but he didn't share whatever it was he was thinking, his own way of trying to help them along, probably. But now, they had to go, they had to leave, it was too dangerous to be stuck in one place forever, and there was still the fact that the God-Generals were after Asch and the Sword of Lorelei. With everything that had happened it wasn't a long stretch for them to realize where they would be.

Luke was taking it hard, which wasn't much of a surprise, but it was still hard to watch. One more reason to get out of Daath, he needed to get past this. It was harder for him, he didn't have any experience with losing someone who was really close to him. Guy had lost his family, Asch had had that experience as well, for however short a time it may have been. Tear had lost her brother... and who knew what Jade had lost. The only comfort that the blond could muster was in the knowledge that he was getting better. It was slow, and Guy's best friend was still so breakable, but he was slowly improving.

So there was one thing that still bugged him, and Guy could feel his curiosity wage against his reason. He didn't want to drag up an unpleasant topic... but later would only be worse. Not that he expected much of an answer no matter when he finally got the question out, but the information the topic potentially held could be vital.

"Say Jade," Guy began with caution. "What do you think really happened to Ion? Why did he take a turn for the worse that even the doctors couldn't explain?"

Jade pondered the question for a moment. "I'm not certain," he finally replied. "I suspect it may have had to do with his use of Daathic Fonic artes. He used more than any Fon Master would have otherwise used in a lifetime. He was also a replica; it's possible they had a more permanent effect, that each arte took its toll on his body, never fully recovering after each use. He simply didn't have the ability to mount a sufficient response against disease anymore."

"If you say so..." Guy answered somewhat sceptically. He wondered what Jade really knew.

"I can't... I can't believe I never noticed anything," Anise managed. "It was my job to protect him, but I couldn't even tell he was getting weaker."

"Don't blame yourself Anise," Tear interceded. "None of us noticed."

Asch listened to varying extents as the others continued to discuss Ion, reasons why they hadn't noticed his steady decline, but the redhead knew that their memories would never serve them such information...because the signs were never there to begin with.

"You know something... don't you?" Asch whispered softly.

Luke nodded.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

Luke shook his head.

Asch tried to offer him a smile, but could see the water swelling in the corners of his little brother's eyes. With a defeated sigh, Asch placed an arm around his sibling and held him, watching Luke's memories across their open connection. A green haired boy in the cheagle woods, a gentle smile, an open heart. He sent a wave of comfort but the sentiment stung, just a reminder that the memories were only that. So Asch sat silently, watching Luke's memories, adding some of his own. He stayed there wordlessly and held Luke, letting him cry for the first friend he'd ever made... and ever lost.