Chapter Three: Ghost in the Hallway Edge sat up quite suddenly, his body covered in a cold sweat. It had been a while since he'd been plagued by nightmares of when they'd lost Faize. Edge. He looked around. A shimmery figure stood at the doorway, as if watching him. The figure was only illuminated where shadows would fall, and the lighting didn't seem to reflect the room Edge was in, but almost a fire, as if the person were lying down near one. "Who are you?" Edge asked. The figure only looked around the room, then pointed at Lymle, who was holding Faize's cloak like it was the most precious thing in the world. "Your a Limurian?" Edge asked. The figure moved closer, but couldn't seem to pick up the cloak Lymle was holding. But as soon as Edge tried, the figure could touch it. "Faize?" The figure nodded. Edge. He motioned for Edge to follow, but paused, motioning back to Lymle. He took a piece of paper from his pocket, trying to hand it to Edge. But Edge didn't get the hint, so he put the letter back. "What's wrong, Faize? Why can't the others see you, or hear you?" Edge asked in a whisper. Faize looked towards him, but didn't speak. He couldn't really, only a thought could pass, often a name. He looked awkward for a moment, then looked over as someone shifted. "Edge, what are you doing?" It was Reimi. She yawned. "Go back to bed. We have to see what crazy Dr. Leonne has been doing tomorrow." Faize tilted his head a moment, then focused everything he could towards Reimi. Reimi? All of a sudden, Faize seemed to fade away. Reimi looked around. "Edge, this isn't funny."she said, this time louder, waking Arumat beside her. "Hmm?" The silverette looked crabby, he did that naturally, and glared at Edge. "Really, lad, what is wrong with you?" "Hey, I wasn't doing anything." Edge replied. "Then why are you near the door?" Myuria asked from her cot. Little Mia snuggled closer to her mother, managing to get her face between those lovely mounds on Myuria's front. "It was . . . I thought I saw Faize near here." Edge replied. Lymle suddenly shrieked. "It's gone!" she cried, checking under her blanket, then under the cot. "What is, Lym?" Reimi asked. "The cloak!" Lymle sobbed. "Faize took it back." Edge replied. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but Faize was here. He just . . . it's like he's a ghost." Lymle frowned. "Next time, tell me." she said pointedly. There was a waver of air-space near Edge, and the cloaked ghost appeared again, this time with the cloak over. However, only Edge could see him. "Faize?" Edge. "Where?" Lymle asked. "I don't see him." Faize made a motion towards Lymle, but she still couldn't see him. With a sigh, he looked back at Edge and put the letter in his hand. The instant Faize let go, it became like a solid object. "Where'd that come from?" asked Lymle. "Faize handed it to me." Edge replied. He noticed Faize was trying to get one of Lymle's ribbons, and gently plucked the lime-green object from the girl's hair. "Hey!" Lymle cried, waking the rest of the crew members. She gasped when the ribbon vanished, and instead, she could catch a faint glimmer of something else. "Faize?" she asked. He nodded, wrapping the ribbon around his hand. He looked at Edge again and pointed to the letter before vanishing. "So, Faize was around here?" Reimi asked, holding her blanket around her shoulders. "Yeah." Edge replied. He looked at the letter. "He wrote us a note." "Mr. Edge, what did Mr. Faize have to say?" Baccus asked. Edge opened it, almost afraid it was a farewell. Slowly, he began to read: "To my dearest friends, I'm sorry for leaving you in the manner I did, and for seeing you again in such a manner as well. But the first thing I really must do is apologize to Lymle, whom I spoke to last. I will not be able to fulfill that childish wish of yours, and I am sorry. Two winters have passed since I came to the world I now live on, and I have another in my life. Please, find your happiness elsewhere, Lymle. The 'looking glass', as Dr. Leonne calls it, is actually a time gate, and I am at it's root cause. When I fell from Nox Obscourus, I came to be encased in a meteor that crashed on that planet, leaving a fragment behind. That is the glass. The other side is the world I live on, and one that is further and yet closer to you all. I'm unsure how to explain it, but please, if you wish to pass safely through, do not approach the glass when the mad doctor is there. The glass reacts to him rather violently. I want to end his fooling with the gate, but I need to find it's other half first. What you see when I am there is not more than an a facade, my spirit, as he would put it. I will appear again tomorrow in the early hours. Any of you that wish to pass through the gate, please wait by the mirror. I'll escort you through. Please think this over before coming, though. As of yet, it's a one-way trip. Your friend till end of time, Faize Sheifa Beleth" Edge looked at the others. "So, what do we do?" he asked. "I want to see Faize." Lymle asked. "I need to tell him things, and see who this other person is, 'kay?" "I would also like to see Mr. Faize again, and introduce my wife." Baccus added. "I think we'd all like to see that boy again." Myuria replied. The others nodded. "Well, then, we'd better head to the mirror." Edge said. The group tried to get there quietly, and soon were standing in front of the mirror. A few minutes later, Faize's spirit appeared. He looked at Edge, the took his hand. He motioned for Edge to take the next, and for them to create a chain as such. Edge swallowed and took Lymle's hand. "Take Reimi's hand, Lym." She did, and Reimi caught on, taking Arumat's. The scarred Eldarian took the hand of Myuria's daughter, who took Myuria's, who took Miracle's, who in turn took Baccus, who held his wife. Faize nodded and placed his hand on the mirror, walking towards it. One by one, the others passed through, finding themselves on a plain, near a camp. There was a fire burning, and a youth with blue hair sat near it. He looked over as Edge and company approached. "Hey. So, it worked, huh?" "Your not Faize." said Lymle. "No. My name's Fayt." the youth smiled. "Faize would be over there." He motioned towards the circular tent. Just then, a thin figure with two wrapped hair-tails stepped out. He didn't look that happy, and grabbed a bucket of water. "What is it, Albel?" Fayt asked. "He's not waking up." A.N. - So, yeah. I'm still wandering Lymerus, and managed to make my way to Woodly. I fared a bit better with the citadel boss, but only just by a little. While Edge and Reimi were close to level 17, Faize had just reached 16 and Lymle was back at 14. Still, by juggling who I was controlling, I managed to survive with more than just 4 HP, like I'd done with that first boss. I'm not doing too bad, but I'm aiming for level 25 minimum before leaving this planet. As a side observation, it's come to my attention that not all Eldarians have their ears covered the way Faize and Arumat do. In fact, most of them only seem to cover the top portion of their ears, and the commanding officer doesn't cover them at all. So my question is, why? Does Arumat have a disfiguring scar that would make him cover his ears, or was one torn partially? And Faize, well, he seems to prefer elegance, so the fact that he's covered his ears seems more of a vanity thing. Doesn't matter, really, I still like them both. :)