Something was wrong. Seriously wrong. Durbe knew Amelia well enough to realize these things. She didn't usually take this long to do stuff.

Especially something as level-one as stealing food.

Durbe stood and raced off towards the house. Something had happened to Amelia, which he wouldn't allow to happen again.

The door flew open as he ran in. It was all too quiet on the ground level. But then he heard the commotion upstairs. Durbe thrust himself up the stairs and went wide-eyed.

Amelia lay there, at the foot of the bed, barely able to breathe and struggling to wake up. Quinton was smirking, twirling the bloodied knife in his hand. Durbe's smokey-gray eyes were shaking wildly as he stared up at the oldest Arclight brother.

"Why...why did you do it Quinton?"

"Because Amelia is in our way. The only thing we can do to get her out of the way is kill her."

"What do you mean 'we'?"

"The Barians, Durbe. You're a Barian as well. What's different about you?" Quinton leaned in closer and stared directly into the smokey-gray eyes. "Don't you wanna succeed for your own kind?"

Durbe shook his head. "No, I don't. Not at all. They just want to hurt Amelia and her family. I won't help with that."

The smirk that crawled across Quinton's face made Durbe shudder. He didn't like it whatsoever.

"Well that's too bad Durbe. I would've expected better from you. Oh well, I suppose if you want to be an enemy then you can be an enemy." Quinton raised the knife and lunged at the gray-haired Barian in front of him. Durbe yelped and jumped away, picking up one of the swords Amelia had out and defending himself with it.

Metal clashed on metal as the two continued to fight. Quinton was pretty skilled with that knife, more so than Durbe had ever thought. He decided it probably wasn't him in control, then.

Another clash sound, and Durbe was on the ground, right next to Amelia. Quinton attempted to stab his opponent again, but missed and got the thing stuck in the carpet.

That was just the kind of opening Durbe had been looking for. He slid the sword into a spot on Amelia's backpack and lifted her up, then ran off down the stairs. Quinton growled and gave chase.

The door flew open as they ran out into the night. Both went flying out on the grass, and Durbe's first place he went was into the forest. Deep into the forest. Quinton would never find them there.

He slid under a large tree after about five straight minutes of running. Durbe had gone so long, he'd gotten himself and Amelia lost. He guessed it didn't matter too much because when Amelia woke up, she could just teleport to wherever it was she needed to go.

"Man did he deal damage to you..." Durbe gently lifted Amelia and put her against him. He just wanted her to wake up. The pink-haired girl stirred, but didn't wake.

One could only wonder what was going on in her head at the moment.

XxXxXxXx

Amelia opened her eyes slowly. Her breathing was still heavy, and her wounds still hurt, but other than that, she was fine. The emerald eyes drifted up weakly to stare at Durbe. He'd fallen asleep with her still clutched gently in his hold.

It wasn't like Amelia really cared though. She had complete and total trust in Durbe, and she had her whole life.

"Or should I say, 'lives'?" Amelia gasped and shook herself. Sometimes if she got to deep in her thoughts, she started whispering to herself. This was one of those times.

"No, stop that kind of talk Amelia. You know you don't want people to get that information soaked in their brains. Why would I have ever said that out loud?" The pink-haired girl slapped herself, causing Durbe to wake up. He groggily looked down at Amelia, who was rubbing her cheek.

"Whoa, take it easy, take it easy. What happened, Amelia?" Durbe asked, positioning Amelia on him so she was comfortable again.

"Nothing," she lied, emerald eyes trailing down as she did. Gently, Durbe put his hand to her good cheek and forced her to look up. Amelia blinked innocently.

Silence.

That soon changed when Amelia threw her arms around Durbe. She wanted instant comfort for what she was feeling. Durbe gently held her and stroked her bangs.

"Is it true what Vector said? Of a dragon somehow brining me from the past to the present by swapping two souls when mine was about to diminish, and then healing it by placing it in another body?"

"..."

"Please answer me Durbe. This has been chewing on my nerves for so long, without me ever knowing whether it was true or not. I want to know. Please...just tell me..."

"Okay, I'll tell you Amelia." Durbe sighed. Amelia looked up at him with pleading eyes, those of which he'd never been good at saying "no" to.

"It's all true. The dragon, the soul switch, everything. For once, Vector spoke the truth to you."

Amelia went wide-eyed as she felt her heart sink.

"Holy shit..."