Well, my readers, this story is officially a year old! (I'm a day late, but better late than never I say!). We're nearing the end, yet I keep pushing it off…maybe it's because I don't want this part of the story to end!! lol As I said before, I'll be connecting the end of this story with the beginning of my story "The Faults of Perfection", another Black Cat fic I sort of abandoned until I found a good use for it.

Now that we're moving into the chapters concerning Eden I'm afraid the story may stretch on for a few more chapters. I know I've told you guys about ten times that there were only a few chapters left, but at the time I thought I would skim over Eden and leave it at that. But now that the chance has arisen for me actually add to a part of the anime I really didn't care for, I'm taking advantage of it!! So yes, there will be three or four more chapters, I hope that's alright…especially if that's a lie and it stretches beyond four more.

Oh, Mikyu, you don't miss a thing! (And that's a good thing! X3) You're right about the details you brought up in your review, and some of it I don't have much of an answer for. I know when I began this fic I said it would be a Train x Creed fic, but it's drifted away from that, hasn't it? I didn't mean for it to, but it has. I'll sneak something in there just for you and my other readers who have asked the same question ; ) About the whole Train being unconscious instead of dead after Eve was ordered to kill him, well…that's a bit of a flaw, I admit. I know I had Mason order Eve to kill Train, but I Mason would have known that it would've been extremely hard for Eve to kill Train, he IS Chronos Number XIII after all. Train was knocked out by the blow Eve threw at him, and he didn't try nearly as hard to defeat her because she was Eve, someone he cared about. I'll fill that gap in later when Train confronts Mason again along with Eve.

I agree Mikyu about Eden. I thought it was a rushed and badly planned ending to the anime and it needed some serious work. I plan to re-write the whole scenario and add my own touch to it. While I don't claim that I'll make it amazing, I do hope it'll be better… I thought the fight scenes were rushed too. Basically the only part of Eden I liked was Train's run in with the ghost, or whatever, of Zagine and because this fic is mainly based on the anime he'll come into play.

Phew, that was a lot to write just now! Alright, as promised I'll be beginning the next chapter. I hope it will be long in celebration of a year on and all your wonderful support! You guys totally rock! X3

-Train

P.S. Thanks TheMusicalAlchemist for your help on the song! At least you've given me an era to look in and a more precise instrument!

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A Cat's Destiny

While the time at night when I had been awake had passed slowly the moments I had actually been asleep flew by in what felt like a matter of seconds. I awoke that morning groggy and tired, as if I had never slept at all.

Sven had been up for hours, plotting out where exactly we might go on our map, as Rinslet, who had recently arrived, was jabbering on the phone with Jenos, Chronos Number VII. Chronos was our only connection as to where to begin, because the moment Mason had disappeared with Eve we had completely lost track of them. Sephiria on the other hand knew exactly where to look, but she refused to share how as she passed the information onto Jenos who in turn told Rinslet.

I walked into the bustling dining room as I ran my fingers through my messy hair, trying to wake up in some form or another. Creed leaned against the counter across the room sipping at a mug of tea. His eyes wandered past the window pane and to the outside world as he thought about something.

Echidna, and the other ex-Apostles remained out in the living room where they sat in silence. They made me uneasy, but I wasn't sure why, and I know I wasn't the only one as Sven cast them wary glances from time to time and Rinslet avoided them all together.

"So," I sighed as I leaned over the table to get a look at the areas Sven was circling on the map. "Where are we headed?"

"Well," Sven sighed as well as he straightened up and ran his fingers through his hair. "We have three choices and Chronos is trying to narrow them down for us."

"You're actually working with Chronos?" I asked, smirking slightly as Sven shot me a glare.

"They're our only hope right now," He muttered as he shoved a cigarette into his mouth and lit it. "But they're not exactly being cooperative."

I glanced over at Creed to catch his eyes before he looked away. I couldn't believe Creed had agreed to work with Chronos either when he had been so set against them only months before, and as far as I knew he still was. Mason had come from Chronos and was now beyond corrupt, so trusting Sephiria wasn't something I thought would be on his list of "to do's".

"Shouldn't we head out soon?" I asked as I turned back to Sven and the map. "We don't want them getting any further than they already have."

"Yeah," Sven grumbled, knowing I was right but not ready to go.

Rinslet finished her conversation with Jenos and snapped her phone shut before turning to us, a frustrated look on her face.

"I hate that woman," She snapped as she pushed past me to look at the map. "I really do."

"Helpful." Sven muttered from where he stood, but Rinslet ignored him.

"Jenos has it narrowed down to these two areas," She said as she pointed to two of the spots Sven had circled. "He said he doubts they'd be here because it has such a big population. He thinks they'd start small, then work their way up."

Sven began to erase the circle he'd made around the third city as Rinslet muttered something about hating Sephiria yet again.

"I bet that's where they're starting, actually," I said as I grabbed Sven's hand, his eraser pressing against the map. "If I know Mason like I think I do he'll want to start from the top and work his way down."

"What are you talking about?" Rinslet asked, giving me an annoyed look.

"I know Mason," I replied, resisting the urge to snap back. "He's power hungry and he'll do what it takes to get what he wants. He's going to start with the big cities first…there are more people there, and his goal is to destroy as many people as possible. He'll get impatient taking out the smaller cities and towns, he'll want to take out a big city first."

"If you say so," Rinslet sighed. "But Jenos was talking to Sephiria and he seemed to think she knew what she was-"

"He's right," Creed interrupted as he continued to look out the window. "Mason is a man who survives off power. He lives for the high that it gives him…he won't be able to resist an area with that many people that he could control and destroy."

Sven stared at Creed for several seconds before shrugging and re-circling the city much to Rinslet's dismay. With that he folded up the map, shoved it in his jacket pocket and looked at me expectantly.

"It's time to go." He said with a look of both excitement and fear.

………………………………………………………….

The car ride was silent and uncomfortable. The summer heat made its way through the closed windows easily, and by the time we realized that opening them might be a good idea the heat had done its work.

Rinslet sat sound asleep in the backseat while Sven and I sat alert but miserable in the front seat. Sven had long since shed his suit jacket, tie, and hat and while I had been tempted to cast my short, black coat aside the heat made the idea seem like much more of a feat than it really was.

Creed, Echidna, Shiki, and Maro followed behind us in their vehicle (though I wasn't quite sure how Maro fit inside), and with several uneasy glances in the rearview mirror from Sven I could tell he still wasn't sure how he felt now that he was working with an ex-criminal.

It wasn't much later that the heat got the best of me as well and I drifted off into a light and uncomfortable sleep.

…………………………………………………………

What felt like seconds later I was opening my eyes to the blinding sun that shone through the windshield of Sven's car. I yawned widely and stretched my arms before sliding back up in the seat and looking around.

I glanced over to see the drivers seat was empty, though Rinslet was still napping in the back. I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door to the hot, desert air outside. I squinted through the sunlight before catching sight of Sven standing close to the car Creed had been in, speaking to someone through the open window.

I made my way closer to see he was speaking with Creed himself, a strange situation in my opinion. I stepped up beside Sven entirely unnoticed but I didn't have to be a part of the conversation to hear what was going on.

"We're about fifteen minutes outside of the city," Sven said through the window as he fanned himself in the heat. "I don't see anything that looks out of the ordinary, but that doesn't mean we won't."

Creed nodded from inside the air conditioned car, the heat taking absolutely no effect on him. He glanced over at me, smiled slightly, before looking back to Sven. This was obviously business I wasn't involved in at the moment.

"Mason won't act irrationally," Creed replied. "He'll wait until the time is right and then he'll strike. We'll simply have to wait."

"We should wait somewhere in town where it's not burning hot." I spoke up, taking Sven by surprise as he jumped and look at me as if I were a ghost.

"Where did you come from??" He gasped, giving me a glare.

"The car…" I said slowly, as if he were insane. "Where I've been for the past four hours."

With one last glare he turned back to Creed, pretending I wasn't there.

"We should wait somewhere in town." He said and I rolled my eyes. "We need some kind of air conditioning or we'll die of heat stroke."

"We'll follow you." Creed replied before rolling up his window.

………………………………………………

The restaurant we chose was well air conditioned much to our delight, and there was plenty of food to choose from. After a quick lunch we sat around the table quietly, glancing out the windows every once in a while to make sure nothing was up.

It wasn't until close to an hour later that my cell phone rang, taking me by surprise as it vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and flipped it open, surprised by the name that flashed across the screen.

"Fancy hearing from you," I said as I answered the phone and stood from the table, wandering towards the opposite and empty side of the restaurant.

"Thirteen," Sephiria greeted as well.

"And why would you be calling me?" I asked, ignoring the fact that I had never given her my number. "I doubt there's anything I can do for you that you can't do yourself."

"On the contrary," She replied, conducting business. "We need your help."

"Is this how I'll be paying you back for saving me a few months ago?" I asked in a serious tone.

"If we wish to see it that way," She replied. "Then yes."

"Alright," I replied, holding back a sigh. "What is it you need?"

Another hour passed as Sephiria and I conversed on the phone. It had been a long time since she and I had talked one on one, but it was as if nothing had changed between us. She spoke to me as though I were one of the Chronos Numbers again, and I listened as though she were my commander in chief as she had once been.

She spoke to me about Eden, and that while Chronos understand its location and purpose they didn't understand its workings. They knew how Mason worked, they knew his goal only because Rinslet had filled them in after Creed had explained it to her, but as for understanding the core of the machine they were helpless.

Eve. That's what they didn't understand, and they knew very well that I did. While they knew we needed their help to defeat what in fact Eden was, they needed my help to reach the core that controlled it and kept it alive.

"We know Mason is using Eve to power whatever Eden is," Sephiria said solemnly. "We know Eden must run on Nanotechnology, which would be why Mason was so desperate to gain control of your friend, but we don't understand how she works."

"You can't tell me Chronos doesn't understand how nanotechnology works." I scoffed. "You were the ones who ordered me to assassinate Eve in the first place because you saw her as a threat. You know very well what she's capable of, and you don't need me to tell you."

"We know what she can do in her normal form," Sephiria replied. "And we have an idea of what she can do now, seeing as the chip Mason is using against her he stole from our labs. But what we don't understand is who she is as a person, what she will be functioning on. She cannot simply function on that chip alone, she must use her mind as well, no matter how corrupt Mason as made it."

"So you mean Eden will live not only off the nanotechnology but off Eve herself?" I asked, trying to make sense of this.

"Exactly," She replied. "It will feed off the power of her nanomachines, which will in turn drain her of her own life, but it will survive off what her most human characteristics, her heart and her mind.

We need you to enter Eden, find Eve, and destroy Mason's creation. I don't know how you'll do it, because only you and your friends understand her, but you must do it."

"I can't destroy Eve," I said flatly. "I'll do my best to destroy Eden, but I'm not letting Mason take Eve down with him."

"Do what you must," Sephiria replied. "But if it comes down to it Chronos is willing to take whatever measures we must, even if it means destroying the entire creation itself, but the loss of human life that would create is what we are hoping to prevent."

I sat in silence, the phone still held to my ear as I thought. I couldn't kill Eve, in fact I refused to, and I knew Sven and Rinslet would say the same thing. But we were Chronos's only hope, because they wouldn't know how to bring Eve out of whatever trance she was in or how to stop the control Mason had over her mind.

I glanced over at Sven, realizing that in the end he was the one that would be able to bring her back, but with as controlled as she was, she wasn't the same person anymore and I doubted she wanted the same things.

"Alright," I sighed into the phone speaker. "I'll do it, we'll figure out how to bring her back."

"We're depending on you." Sephiria replied before hanging up the phone.

I hung up as well but remained where I was as I let the conversation really sink in. How was I supposed to do this? I really didn't know…

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Oh geez…that was a boring chapter, but it had to be written! It was basically a blah blah blah chapter that explained stuff…like the past few have. After this it will be action time, yay!! I'll hopefully update tomorrow or the next day, because I'd really like to get into the thick of the action, and I'm sure you guys would like to stop reading these descriptive chapters. X3

Well, I'm off to bed (it's 2am now…eesh…), but I promise to update within the next couple of days. I won't let you down my loyal readers! Ciao!