Fairy Tales and Brave Vesperia

by Sylph Writer

Fairies aren't all about glitter and wishes, they're trouble. If you get one mad, he might just send you somewhere you never expected for punishment. Written because I needed to write something, and Tales of Vesperia doesn't have many SI fanfictions.

47. Chapter 47: Sing What You Can't Say

I am actually at work right now. Third shift employee has some life issues beyond his control, and there wasn't anyone else free to cover for him. So when my shift ended, I stayed here. In the gas station. And I'll be here all night for a double shift.

Think of the Moolah and Karmic value! (Said employee will take one of my shifts next week off my hands so I'll have an extra day off. And everyone thinks I'm such a great person for agreeing with no grumbling or whining.)

But night shifts are pretty quiet, so my brother brought my lap top over so I can stay entertained (and awake) and I took the opportunity to finish this chapter. Another short one, but omfg, I was cackling my head off and have so much I like about this chapter. Don't think it's my best or anything, I just reeeally like it. :D

Angelic:

I'm not denying there is fluff. Fluff is not exclusive to romance. ;p There is family type fluff and friendship type fluff and cute little animal type fluff.

Yup, Letha went through a wall. No one is more surprised by that than her.

Kyushen:

I am diligently working on this story! When I'm not being lazy and procrastinating (blame that third shift employee who's been loaning me vampire romance books [not Twilight, he wouldn't even touch those]). And here we've gotten to something I've just been dying to finally get written out and posted. Have fun in your classes~

x x x

Chapter 47: Sing What You Can't Say

x x x

The party was going full force when I stepped back out from the inn. From the sheer number of people on the streets I had to surmise that everyone in town (and not still wandering the desert looking for Phaeroh...hopefully Flynn sent people out to look for them) was joining in. Cumore's knights were all being shunted off to the sides in groups of three or four (probably keeping them from gathering all together so they couldn't organize a plan to fight back) kept under the guard of Flynn's men. I had to crack a smile when I saw a little kid standing just safely out of reach of the bound knights, energetically punching and kicking the air in their direction. Bit like Yuffie from Final Fantasy...

With so many locals out and letting loose, I couldn't pick my own friends out of the chaos. I did catch a glimpse of Raven with a small child, who actually might have been Alph, sitting on his shoulders while more children swarmed around his knees. And Rita getting swept away by a young man into a group that had started dancing. Some unseen band had pulled together and were playing cheerful music that put me in the mind of a renaissance fair.

I couldn't get drawn into the revelry like they had. I didn't want to. I wanted to find a dark corner to curl up in. I'd be back in the room Judith and I were sharing, hiding under my blankets if I could. But there was someone I wanted to talk to, asap.

Doing my best not to step on anyone's toes, I slipped through gaps I found in the milling crowd while trying to pick out that single person from the throng. A bonfire was being coaxed into roaring life, easily as tall as I was already, and its flickering light washed everything in its reddish glow. I found myself getting jumpy at how it made several people look like they had red hair. Kept making me think Alastor was hanging around.

I was momentarily nonplussed when I realized a knight not all that faraway actually didhave orange hair. She turned a bit so I could see her face in profile, with a braid like my own but considerably shorter, and I realized it was actually Sodia. "Sodia!" I called, happy for a familiar face that might be willing to spare me a moment and some help, "Hey, Sodia!"

The lieutenant looked around for whoever was calling her and finally her eyes lit upon me, expression twisting into professional sourism. By which I mean she looked like she had a sour taste in her mouth, but was putting on her official polite and respectable face and hoping no one would notice. Right, she didn't form that great an impression of me last time we met.

"You. You're one of Yuri Lowell's companions." Her tone clearly implied that she did not consider the association a very good endorsement. Then it seemed as if something softened about her. Before I could wonder what that was about she asked, "Could you possibly tell me where my Captain is?"

I blinked, "Um, no, can't say that I know." I think it's a bit too early for that meeting with Yuri at the lake, though he could be there already I guess. Still, its important for them to hash out with each other why they're so pissed with each other's methods. But I felt a bit bad about hiding that from Sodia. She was only trying to do her job, perhaps a bit more enthusiastically and hot headedly than called for, but hey, I'd had little experience with her other than her Yuri bashing moments. Okay, don't think about that or you'll get pissed at her. Instead, remember what you're trying to do right now.

"Um," I felt a bit shy suddenly. Asking Sodia for help when, from her perspective, we barely even ranked as acquaintances seemed a bit presumptuous. She probably had her hands full as it was, even if it was following Alexei's orders. I shook my head, irritated that I was getting distracted again. "Sodia, have you seen a man about so tall," I carved a line in the air about half a foot above my head with one hand, "long, lightish brown hair, maybe wearing a big old leather coat that looks too hot for the desert?"

The female knight gave me a level look, perhaps wondering why I was bothering her with this when she had to find her captain to do more important work. Or maybe not, since she was doing pretty much the same thing herself trying to find Flynn. "I believe I saw a young man of that description helping with the preparations for fireworks."

Huh? "Fireworks?"

"Yes, it seems they had some in storage that were supposed to be used for a local festival. But the festival was canceled when there weren't enough adults left to organize it." A touch of steel entered her voice at that last part. Then, much to my wonder, she actually smiled. "Now would be as good a time as any for them to celebrate, so the fireworks won't go to waste after all."

"Uh, right," I realized I was staring, her smile had caught me so off guard. "Do you know where they're setting them up?"

Sodia nodded and turned to point towards the lake. "For obvious safety reasons."

"Thanks!" I waved a bit as I trotted off and away from the crowd. Once I broke free from the mass of bodies the night felt a good five degrees cooler, maybe more, making me shiver lightly. When I reached the lake's beach I looked around for the pyrotechnicians planning to blow up the night with colorful explosions.

The people busily setting up the fireworks displays were only dark silhouettes to my eyes with a pile of crates off to the side. Just watching them I couldn't figure out who was who. I walked up, consciously trying to make the sand crunch noisily under my feet so I wouldn't accidentally sneak up and surprise them into setting off fireworks in our own faces.

"'Scuse me," I called.

Someone grunted as he pried the lid off a crate with a crowbar, "Yeah, miss?"

"Is there someone called Chase here?"

There were hoots of laughter and what sounded like somebody getting slapped on the back. "Hey, boy! Your girlfriend's come to pick you up!"

"Ain't you a lucky dog!"

"Run along now, kid, don't keep her waiting!"

One of the shadows detached itself an approached me, looking a bit lopsided until I realized he was still halfway facing them to yell back, "Knock it off! We're not like that!" Which got more laughs and catcalls.

"Aw, don't be shy!"

"If you say it like that, your girl's gonna get mad at you!"

Chase was close enough for me to finally make out somewhat clearly in the barrier light. He bobbed his head apologetically when he joined me. "Sorry, they're just old timers who don't know what they're talking about!" His voice rose and he turned back again to make sure his words carried back to the men with the fireworks. All he got was another round of laughter in response. "Why do I keep running into those types?" he muttered.

"Meh, no big deal," I shrugged. "Not like any of them believe it anyway."

He winced, "Ouch. That hurts."

I patted his shoulder, "There, there." We fell into step, walking slowly so as not to trip on anything before we reached the light of the bonfire. "So, uh..." My head dipped down as my eyes fixed themselves on the tips of my boots. All I could see of Chase was the swirling hem of his leather coat. "I wanted to ask you about something..."

"Yeah? Shoot." His tone was agreeable and open. I took a deep breath and plowed forward.

"The last night I was here, Cumore really...I really killed him, didn't I?" My hand clasped behind my back, gripping each other for support. "I wasn't just panicking too much, and overlooked him being alive, right? He..." I jumped a bit when I felt a hand drop on my shoulder. Looking up wildly, my momentary fear that some knight had overheard and was arresting me was dispelled when I verified that it was Chase's hand.

"Yeah, Cumore was dead. No doubt to it," his voice was soft, without reproach. "By now he should be buried under more sand than anyone's going to want to dig up."

"But-" I looked away, toward the people I could see dancing with the bonfire as a backdrop. "Why did the knights continue what they were doing here? They acted as if Cumore was still alive and giving them orders."

"I think that was Blakely's doing."

"Cumore's lieutenant?"

"Yeah," We'd reached the outskirts of the celebrating and found that benches and stools had been dragged out of the houses to provide seating. Without needing to discuss it, we sat down together on a bench that was little more than a wooden plank on legs. We probably looked like a young couple whispering sweet nothings which, while a bit embarrassing, meant anyone who noticed us would just grin and move on to give us some privacy. And if they eavesdropped for some juicy gossip, they'd hopefully think we were talking politics or something.

"From what I saw, Blakely was just as self centered and ambitious as Cumore," Chase was explaining. "Cumore, however, came from a higher place in the nobility, so he got the better position as a matter of course. I guess when Cumore never came back to his quarters Blakely saw the chance to assume command. He probably thought that if he said Cumore'd gone missing he'd just get another new officer like Cumore to boss him around." A pair of happily shrieking children ran past us.

"So instead he took over the search for, uh, whatever, and told the other knights he was relaying Cumore's orders. No one seemed to question that the snob didn't want to come out of his room or speak to anyone besides his next in command. If Flynn's knights didn't come along he was probably planning on completing the mission in order to prove that he deserved the position of captain himself."

"You've got it all figured out, don't you," I said, unintentionally letting some bitterness creep into my voice. "So why didn't you try to do something about it?"

"Letha," his voice was heavy, regret and and practicality mixing with the tired patience one explains something obvious to a child with, "what was I supposed to do? Barge in with sword swinging and waving my crossbow around while yelling that I'd seen Cumore get killed the other night? Hell, they'd lock me up if it came out that I hid the body."

"I dunno..." I pulled my knees up, balancing on the bench as I wrapped my arms around them. "I dunno anymore...why'd you help me anyway?" I squeaked a bit when his arm wrapped around my shoulders, my feet planting themselves on the ground again so I wouldn't fall over from surprise. Though that was purely reflexive, since I probably wouldn't fall over with Chase hugging me with one arm like that.

"I dunno," he echoed me. "Just something about the way you looked at me all scared. For a moment it looked like you were my little sister and had gotten into trouble again."

"You have a sister?" He hadn't mentioned her before.

I couldn't miss the way he stiffened since I was still leaning against him. "Yeah, I did. She's...not in this world."

"Oh, I'm sorry..." I could have kicked myself. The silence was stretching out awkwardly.

Raven stumbled over at that point, reeling and oblivious to the tension of the scene he'd interrupted. "What're ya doin' over here?" he hooked a three legged stool with a foot and dragged it closer to where we were sitting before plopping down onto it. In each hand he had a mug and, judging by the way a little sloshed out of each when he sat, they were nearly full.

"Youngsters like you two should be out inna middle of the fun," the older archer gestured towards the group dancing around the fire, spilling a bit more from a mug in the process. "Unless yer up ta somethin' fun by yerselves," he finished suggestively with a cheeky grin.

"Not really," I said blandly.

He stared at me and then made a noise rather like a disappointed raspberry (never why they called it that). "Aw c'mon, yer not even gonna try?"

"Try what?" Chase asked suspiciously.

"Normally, she," Raven jabbed a finger in my direction (accompanied by another spill from the other mug), "would make some smart-alecky comeback! Like," here he took a breath and pitched his voice higher, "'Of course, Raven, we're plannin' on puttin' bugs in the kid's bed,' or, 'Chase 'n I were just talkin' about those books I told ya 'bout,' or somethin'."

"'Books'?" Chase repeated curiously.

I didn't elaborate for him, "Seems you've already got my end of the conversation covered, so I'll just take the night off."

"There, ya see?" Raven chattered excitedly at Chase. I rolled my eyes and slumped a bit. I didn't want to have a battle of witty comebacks. My mind felt strained enough. "Oh, she's grumpy! Give 'er some of this."

"Raven, sir, I don't think-"

"Who needs ta think? Just a few sips ta lighten her up." One of Raven's mugs was pressed into my hand, the texture of glazed ceramic solid and familiar in my grip. I ran my fingers around the smooth polished rim, feeling a bit of memory stirring in the back of my mind.

I closed my eyes, hoping to catch that fleeting thought.

…

. . .

Running my fingers along the rim of a pot, testing to see if I'd gotten all of the nicks and bumps out of the slightly moist white clay. Looking up and grinning at the blonde girl across the table who eyed my work jealously. Even though her pot was nicer than mine. It was the principle of the matter, I'd found a more creative way to meet the criteria.

She caught my self satisfied look. "You cheated."

"Did not," I denied smugly. "Mr. V even said it was alright. Exactly the kind of thing the project was supposed to encourage us to do." I picked up the thin metal plate to polish a rough spot out of one of the arches I'd built into the side of my pot. Those arches added over two inches to the overall height, easily putting it past the minimum requirement.

"Cheater." I smiled even wider at her, at-

-at...I don't know who.

But the corners of my eyes felt damp.

Realizing I was staring into the depths of my mug, I threw my head back and downed a large gulp. It nearly went down the wrong way and I started hacking at the burning sensation. Fortunately somebody took the mug away before I could accidentally dump its contents all over myself.

When I could breath all right again I settled myself against Chase's side. He no longer had an arm wrapped around my shoulders and was apparently doing some male bonding with Raven. They had a mug each and apparently Chase had asked some question about Altosk.

There was warmth in my stomach that was slowly spreading to my extremities, relaxing anxiety tensed muscles in its wake.

So, if Chase is right, Blakely took Cumore's place. His role in the game. When Yuri went to find Cumore to mete out his own justice, he found Blakely instead.

And now they're both dead in the quicksand.

This bothered me. Not just the knowledge that people had died, in cold blood even, but what it might mean about any changes I made, intentionally or otherwise. I definitely changed something. Cumore died early because I was here. But the events didn't change: the people still suffered, Yuri still stained his hands with more blood, and Flynn was needed to properly liberate the town.

So what will happen to other events that I willfully try to change? When I try to save Belius, will I succeed only for her to die some other way? Are we really walking a set path that ultimately won't change, despite the small deviations?

Is my life ruled by the plot of a game?

I snatched the mug from Chase's hand and took another gulp, this time not choking and noting that it tasted rather like hot cider. Chase protested while Raven laughed, and I ignored what either of them was saying. Now the warm relaxed feeling seemed to rise slowly up to my head, numbing the brooding thoughts so that I could finally have some relief, however temporary.

When Chase reclaimed his mug I didn't object, already occupied with how the top of the fire reached up to tickle and dance against the night sky. Burning hot light in contrast with the cool glow of barrier and stars, gleaming elegantly in the distance.

I really wished I still had my mp3 player in one piece. There was that makeshift band going somewhere, but we couldn't hear them from where we were sitting. Music helped me when I wanted to think, or distance myself from thinking, or change my mood, or wallow even deeper. Music connected me to some deeper level of creativity, shared by anyone who could be bothered to look.

"Imma music addict suffering from withdrawal," I stated solemnly, wanting to make sure the guys understood and shared my melancholic mood. I think I interrupted whatever they'd been talking about.

Raven snorted at me, "Why don'cha do somethin' instead of complainin' about it?" I sat quietly while mulling his words over, and concluded it was a good suggestion.

I straightened in my seat, unbalancing Chase who'd gotten used to my weight on one side. Ignoring that, I sighted on a dark point in the sky across the streets, devoid of barrier or stars. And began to sing.

"Hope is beauty,
personified
at her feet, the world,
hypnotized

"A million flashes,
a million smiles
and on the catwalk
she flaunts her style

"But in this heart of darkness
our hope lies lost and torn
all fame like love is fleeting
when there's no hope anymore

"Pain and glory
hand in hand
a sacrifice
the highest price

"Like the poison in her arm
like a whisper, she was gone
like when angels fall

"And in this heart of darkness
our hope lies on the floor
all love like fame is fleeting
when there's no hope anymore

"Like a poison in her arm
like a whisper, she was gone
like an angel
angels fall"

As if a switch had been flipped somewhere in my brain, I latched onto the word "angel" and threw myself right into another song with barely a pause to take another breath.

"Sparkling angel I believed
You were my savior in my time of need.
Blinded by faith I couldn't hear
All the whispers, the warnings so clear.

"I see the angels,
I'll lead them to your door.
There's no escape now,
No mercy no more.
No remorse cause I still remember
The smile when you tore me apart.

"You took my heart,
Deceived me right from the start.
You showed me dreams,
I wished they'd turn into real.
You broke your promise and made me realize.
It was all just a lie."

I had long since forgotten that there was anyone else there. It was just me, music, and the dark void between the uncaring stars.

"Sing what you can't say
Forget what you can't play
Hasten to drown into beautiful eyes
Walk within my poetry, this dying music
- My loveletter to nobody

"Never sigh for better world
It's already composed, played and told
Every thought the music I write
Everything a wish for the night"

x x x

"When the sun has gone I see you
beautiful and haunting but cold
like the blade of a knife so sharp so sweet
nobody knows your heart

"All of your sorrow, grief and pain
locked away in the forest of the night
Your secret heart belongs to the world
of the things that sigh in the dark
of the things that cry in the dark."

I'd no clue how long I'd been singing, or how many songs I'd gone through. The rare occasion I took a break was only long enough to take another sip as a mug just presented itself in my hand.

At some point what came to the front of my mind was the first line of a poignant fancover someone had done, complete with free online downloads and lyrics in the video descriptions. Some music is just so awesome, people will invent the words in order to sing along.

"Look into the sky
Can you see the moon across the ocean
Coming close to me
I can hear the melody

"Cry into the void
Let my voice become the hand that reaches
Out to you and leads
To my long lost memory

"Carry me home
I lost my way on roads ever weaving
Home
Where darkness fades and hearts are ever believing
Carry me home
I close my eyes and cling to you ever dreaming
Find me
Oh don't forget the child for whom you are grieving

"Voice that calls from there
And the footsteps of its fallen angels
Now becomes the beat
Of my heart so incomplete

"Every night I bathe
In the blue that washes over me
And brings me to my knees
In this longing I believe

"Carry me home
I lost my way on roads ever weaving
Home
Where darkness fades and hearts are ever believing
Carry me home
I close my eyes and cling to you ever dreaming
Find me
Oh don't forget the child for whom you are grieving"

I stopped finally and sucked in a breath, realizing I felt light headed. The higher notes were hard for me to handle, my preference being a somewhat lower range... God, I missed my player. It was less tiring.

The sound of clapping and voices speaking all at once, sense lost in the babble, brought me back to the where and when and the Oh meh gawd, people heard that. Quite a few at that. Where the three of us had originally been seated in a rather unnoticeable corner of the party, a semicircle of curious onlookers had formed and were trying to coax me into singing something else (some calling out what I had to assume were the titles of favorite, Terca Lumireis songs as requests).

My blushing face felt hot in my hands. I won't drink anything that even smells like cider again. At least not when it comes from Raven. Thankfully my head was already starting to clear some, probably thanks to my embarrassment.

"Heeey, not bad!" the culprit crowed. "Put out a collection box or somethin' and ya could make some dough ta pay back yer robbery victim with," and he gave Chase a hearty thump on the shoulder. I raised my head from my hands so that I could swipe Chase's mug again and chucked it at him. It bounced off his shoulder, leaving him to bemoan the waste of good drink and the stain it was bound to leave in his jacket.

Once Chase got his laughter under control (and at least he was tipsier than I had been, though not by much and certainly not enough considering how the number of mugs had multiplied) he wiped a tear from his eye and grinned at me. "Hey, ya know that last one sounded sortuv familiar," he commented, words a little slurred but still understandable. "Though I dun think I rec'gnize the words at all..." a lined creased his forehead as he frowned slightly, probably trying see if he could remember them after all.

"No, the song's originally an instrumental," I explained. "The lyrics were written by a fan of Final Fantasy IX." Hmm? Something...

Chase reached a hand behind his neck and cracked it slightly, making me wince a bit reflexively. "Number nine? Wasn't that the one with the guy with a monkey tail?"

For some reason, my feeling that something was wrong grew stronger. "Yeah, Zidane. I like his character, someone optimistic and cheerful to break away from the borderline emo heroes Cloud and Squall."

He shrugged. "I dunno 'bout Squall, but Cloud's not so bad if you get him talkin'."

"What are you guys talkin' about?" Raven looked at us, one to the other. "'Nother story, Letha? Or ya talkin' about some friends of yers?" My mouth fell open, as I was about to explain and was cut short by the lingering warm relaxed sensation getting washed away by cold realization.

It took Chase a bit longer. "Final Fantasy is a popular series of games that...that..." his words coming to a halting stop, the young man looked at me with eyes gone wide. Bet he'd just gotten a nasty wake up call to his senses too.

"Chaaase..." I was literally shaking, fingers twitching as if wanting to strangle him for hiding this. Or for letting it slip in front of witnesses. I couldn't say which. "Were you planning on telling me about this?"

"Oh, fuck me," he swore, slumping over so that his hands dangled between his knees towards the ground. Which was enough to tell me that no, he hadn't, and that he'd probably known for awhile that we were the same.

"Dammit Chase," I growled, "Don't tell me you were-" He sat up.

"Hold these." Chase thrust a pair of the empty mugs that had been lying forgotten on the ground into my hands, startling me enough that I unthinkingly obeyed. Then before I could regain control, which I was trying to figure out how I'd lost it so easily, he shoved my shoulders. I fell back, aikido training and real fighting experience kicking in so that I managed to roll backwards without breaking my skull or neck.

Rolling onto my feet, I flung the mugs away with flaring anger as I saw Chase already making good the distraction to escape. "Dammit, come back!" I roared, sprinting after him as fast as I could. As I'd seen once before, the man was fast on his feet and had better stamina than me. But I had a whole bunch of questions and like hell would I let him get away without answering.

In the crowd I actually had the advantage. He was bigger, even if people saw him running like a pack of monsters were on his heels they couldn't make enough room for him to get away in a timely fashion. I, however, was often not noticed until I was pushing past someone. But my smaller size made it easy to slip through and anyone who took a good look at the pissed off fire in my eyes wisely chose not to get in my way.

Closer I got until I could nearly reach out and grab a sleeve. But he'd managed that head start and broke away from the crowd with a new burst of speed just before I could nab him by the coat. Cursing, I stumbled out of a gap that opened between two people and lit out after him again.

We were running down the street that took us by the inn, Yuri happening to step out just then. Seeing us he stopped abruptly and swung his sword so that the sheath flew off again. Probably thought we were running from danger, not in the middle of a chase...Godammit!

I shrieked, "Yuri! Don't let that Godamned asshole of a weasel get away!"

Realizing his danger of being caught in a pincer, Chase tried to cut a sharp turn and run down a side street. But a blue arc of aer cut just ahead of him, forcing him to pull up short before running right into an Azure Edge. Which gave Yuri enough time to close the shorter distance between them and stop Chase from running again by the simple expedient of holding the sharp edge of his katana to his neck.

"So," Yuri said conversationally, casual tone entirely out of place, "either of you gonna tell me why I'm threatening a friend of yours?" He never took his eyes off of Chase, but the question seemed to be aimed at me.

"I wanna know too," we all started with surprise when there was another voice (Chase seemed hopeful for a second) until we realized it was just Raven. "They were jus' talkin' 'bout music and weird stories when they both flipped out like that." The archer was leaning against a house across the street from our staggered trio.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Chase asked in honest confusion.

Raven smirked, "Too bad ya didn't know the same shortcuts I do, huh boy? Us old folks need to know how ta get around."

Yuri was giving me a look that said there better be more to the situation than what Raven had outlined. "You're practically out for his blood because of an argument over some made up story?"

"He lied to me." I didn't look at Yuri, aware I probably sounded hypocritical to him. I lied all the time, and we both knew it.

Chase sighed, "You know why I had to."

"But you lied to me," I pressed. "You lied about home. And you should also know damned well why that pisses me off."

That apparently struck a chord in him as he visibly flinched. Yuri's sword followed the motion, his eyes widened and then narrowing as he started catching onto the underlying meaning of what we were saying. Raven didn't know enough to keep up, but was no doubt keeping eyes and ears open for any tidbit that might interest the knights.

"I'm sorry about that, Letha," and either Chase was a really good actor or the regret in his voice was real, "I've been dying to be able to talk with someone from Earth again, myself." I went rigid, and he shrugged sheepishly, "And now I've ticked you off even more."

I crossed my arms over my chest, "What was your first clue?"

"Hold up now," Raven interrupted, "Just what is 'Earth'?" I bit my lower lip, So much for them overlooking that part...

Despite the katana menacing his throat Chase shifted his posture to one more relaxed, thumbs hooking into his belt. "Just a quaint little rock. Home to people so strange they're normal."

"Funny, aren't you," Yuri started to say, but what came next was forgotten when, with a thrum of displaced air, a red fletched arrow planted itself in the ground at his feet. The dark haired swordsman skipped back a few steps, attention drawn upwards to track the quarrel's trajectory.

Chase seized the opening granted with the sword no longer threatening him, dropping his right shoulder as he lunged forward. His shoulder drove into Yuri's solar plexus, knocking the air from him in a grunt as the larger swordsman bowled him over.

"Yuri!" I cried, running forward to try and help. Raven had missed most of the exchange, having spun to face the unknown archer with his own hands reaching for an absent bow, probably left behind at the inn. He spat a curse and gave up the fruitless gesture when I had called out, turning back to Chase and Yuri rolling in the dirt.

Chase made good his initial advantage to quickly push himself back onto his knees, then feet, and withdraw before Yuri could recover enough to seriously fight back. I made to charge after him myself (like hell would I let him go) but stopped short when he leveled a sword directly at me. Yuri's sword. He held it easy in one hand, the slim blade no doubt lighter and faster than the claymore he was accustomed to.

"Well met again, Miss Vitae, Master Lowell," the familiar voice made me look up sharply, to the rooftop of the house behind Chase. "And well met for the first time, Master...Raven." Standing on the slanted roof (making it look as casual as standing on a level field) was Alastor. He was holding an elegantly crafted recurve bow, roughly as long as Karol was tall, handling it gingerly as if reluctant to make more contact with it than necessary.

"You..." There was recognition in Yuri's voice. "You're the guy from Caer Bocram. The one who tricked Letha!" Chase raised an inquisitive eyebrow at me. I just glared back and it went down with a slight shrug to his shoulders. His hair had come loose from its tie during his scuffle with Yuri, and most of it hung loose and dust covered around his shoulders.

"One and the same," Alastor dipped a bow, and I noted with some relief that his wings weren't in sight. There was enough I'd be forced to explain once this fiasco was over with already. "You do me honor by remembering."

"Sure I do," heavy on the sarcasm, "Now what do you want with us this time?"

Alastor tilted his head and beamed at us, glasses managing to pick up a glint of reflected light from somewhere (maybe the barrier). "In truth, this time I," he leaped from the roof and landed behind Chase, his form making the jump appear effortless and graceful in an unmistakably inhuman manner, "am executing a rescue operation."

"Hey, stop!" I lurched forward to try and jump them, pin them down by force if I had to, and to hell with the sword. But Chase took a step back from my reach while flipping the katana over in his grip, then stabbed the blade point first into the ground. It wasn't much in the way of a barrier, but I had to swerve to get around it, and those few seconds counted. He was close enough that all Alastor needed to do was reach out to grab Chase's shoulder in one hand-

Snap

-and they were gone with a snap of Alastor's fingers. My own fingers swept futilely through the air where Chase had just been, hardly a second after they'd vanished.

x x x

Sylph: Hey Chase, get over here and help me and Letha explain what happened last chapter.

Chase: Yes ma'am.

Sylph: Good! Now let's have some friendly interactions, and general partying.

Chase: Sure?

Sylph: Let's have both of you get a bit tipsy!

Chase: No complaints here.

Sylph: And now-! Run for your life before Letha stabs you in the spleen!

Chase: Wha-oh fu-

Eheheheheh.

Now, I know you've all been forming theories about Chase as you gradually grew suspicious of him. How many of you guessed this much?

Songs:

First used, "Hope Vol. II" by Apocalyptica

Second, "Angels" by Within Temptation

Third, "Dead Boy's Poem" by Nightwish

Fourth, "Mononoke Hime" or "Princess Mononoke" from the movie of the same name (Booyah, Hayao Miyazaki films!)

Fifth, "The Place I'll Return to Someday" original soundtrack from Final Fantasy 9 and fan lyrics by Katethegreat19. Check her out on youtube (I didn't really ask permission...but I don't think she'd mind just sharing the words. If I were to make a recording of it, then I'd be sure to ask first.)

I hope you all didn't mind bearing with the miniconcert. Those songs actually provide some insight to how Letha feels right now, even if she doesn't realize that she's projecting. To be fair, Chase, Raven, and I all got her a tad bit drunk first. But I tried to pare them down a bit so they wouldn't take up more space than they needed to.

I still have a good few hours left here before I can go home and sleep. I'll probably get the next chapter started...maybe write a few drabbles or an omake...