I'm insane, but we already knew that, so moving on...

If you want to skip this paragraph, feel free. Anyway! So, I'm one of the actors for a cemetery walk, and last year I was a woman named Mary Dill whose whole family (including herself) died from sickness. This year, I get to be a Revolutionary War veteran named Jacob Henry Shutt. (I think that's spelled correctly, but I could be wrong.) Anyway, Dan hasn't given me my script yet. Instead, he's given me a fife to learn to play since I played flute in band. (The two instruments are quite similar.) But that was five years ago! ...I fail at reading music nowadays. So I spent the last hour attempting to learn one of the songs. I'm getting there, at least. Hooray for musically-inclined people...

Anyway, now that my little spiel is done... Sorry for the late update. I'll try to update on time this week. I've just been distracted lately.

I'm out of things to say... Enjoy!

"I'm almost always this mentally disorganized..." –Kairi

"Oh, no. I'm just wondering how long it'll take the staff in the mess hall to notice a missing frying pan..." –Kairi

"Even though I'm pretty sure everyone except Ion and Anise already knows?" –Luke

"...and a bowl of milk for the impatient kitten trying to get onto a stool." –Jade

Chapter 1.7 - A (False) Peace
Part 7

"Tell the ass with the sledgehammer to lay off, will ya?"

Three familiar chuckles and one not-so familiar awkward cough reached my ears, but when I opened my eyes, I realized that two of them weren't the people I'd been hoping for. I sighed.

"Right... Dead Sync... Damn. I'm really starting to like my little daydreams... I passed out, didn't I?"

Dark smirked. "Yup."

I raised my head to glance around before letting it fall again. "And we're on the Tartarus... Hey, this is the cabin Asch, Sync and I stayed in..."

"Did you hit your head or something?" Luke asked. I couldn't help it, I busted up laughing.

"No... I'm almost always this mentally disorganized... I've just got a filter between my brain and my mouth most of the time," I admitted, finally sitting up. I flexed my right knee slowly, smiling when I realized there was very little pain. Lots of stiffness, but that was normal.

"So, you're the colonel's sister?"

I looked up, taking stock of the people around me.

One obnoxious, red-haired replica; check.

One quiet melodist; check.

One former-assassin-turned-bodyguard; check.

One white Aegis kitten; check.

One baby liger; check.

One cheagle with an annoyingly high voice; check.

One replica of Zion in the position of Fon Master; check.

One overly-cheerful Fon Master Guardian; check.

One smart-aleck colonel... Um...

"Where is my brother?" I asked. Tear smiled slightly.

"He said he'd be back before you woke up. I guess he wasn't expecting you to recover so quickly," she said. I blinked a few times, then tilted my head to the side and looked at Dark.

"You've been out of it for about three hours... Oh, and we've been arrested."

The second half of this statement was made so cheerfully that for a moment, I seriously contemplated knocking him over the head with my frying pan.

Then I realized that my frying pan had gone missing after the kidnapping and hadn't been put in my wing pack.

My expression shifted from confusion to annoyance, which was accompanied by a growl. Dark groaned, while the baby liger stared at me, looking rather affronted.

"Uh, what'd she say?" Luke asked. Dark just stood there, head hung as if in shame... which, to be quite honest, it might have been.

"I'm not repeating that," he stated.

I shrugged when Luke turned to me. "I don't know what I said either, so don't ask me."

Ion frowned. "Is speaking in a monster language on accident even possible?" he asked. Dark gave me a pointed look, and I sighed.

"Apparently, yes, although if I remember what Dark told Natalia right, it's very difficult. I seem to have a talent for it."

"And for curse words," Dark piped up.

"I growl when I'm really, really not happy. Of course I'd be cursing," I argued. Then I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood carefully. I smirked. My leg really was feeling much better now. "So, since you three have been arrested... Does that mean we're locked in here?"

The shortest human in the cabin lifted up an arm, drawing my attention to her as she spoke. "Yeah! The colonel said you'd be more comfortable waking up in here with Dark and Luke, but Ion wanted to stay, so I ended up staying too... I'm—"

"Anise?" I interrupted.

Anise immediately deflated. "Man, the colonel wasn't kidding. You really do know everything." She said it in such a whiny voice that I really wanted to knock her upside the head.

Too bad I don't have a frying pan...

I let a demented grin spread across my face, and Dark and Luke, recognizing it well, stepped away.

"Please don't murder us," Dark said, face straight. I started laughing, but it came out as more of a cackle... Well, that's pretty normal. My laugh usually comes out as a cackle.

"Oh, no. I'm just wondering how long it'll take the staff in the mess hall to notice a missing frying pan..."

Dark picked up the baby liger and retreated to the other side of the room, and Luke, to his credit, sat on the other side of the table where he could keep a wary eye on me. Tear obviously had no idea what to make of my threat, Mieu apparently thought I was going to eat him, and Anise and Ion were both giving me extremely worried looks.

"Are you completely sure you're okay?" Ion asked, tentatively reaching up to feel my forehead. The grin never left my face.

"Yup!"

Dark groaned. "I'm just glad she doesn't have a frying pan right now... Asch and Sync could probably write a horror story about her and that bloody thing..." he said. I frowned.

"Hey, I take very good care to wash any blood off of my frying pan before using it again."

Ion, Anise, and Tear very quickly retreated after that comment.

"Oh dear... What did I miss?"

I turned and giggled. "Oh, Dark and I were just talking about my frying pan," I said. "I need a replacement, by the way."

Jade's face would have looked completely impassive to anyone else, but I knew he was seriously resisting the urge to turn and bang his head off of something solid. "No," he ground out simply before turning to the others. "Now then, I didn't exactly come here because of my sister."

Another soldier had followed Jade in, and I vaguely recognized him as Marco. I wondered for a moment if it would be possible to save him when the God-Generals attacked.

Hell, I wasn't even sure who all would be attacking!

"The Seventh Fonon hyperresonance came from the direction of the capital of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and converged inside Malkuth territory near Tataroo Valley," Marco stated. Jade pushed his glasses a little further up his nose and forced down a smirk as he looked at Luke and Tear.

"Now, if you two were the source of that hyperresonance, that would make you guilty of illegally crossing the border into our country, wouldn't it?" he continued. Luke groaned.

"Jeez, you're obnoxious..."

I giggled. Well, at least Luke sounded a little less like a spoiled brat... even if he had kept up that line...

Anise laughed. "He called you obnoxious!"

Jade sighed, a little bit amused himself. "I'm terribly hurt," he lied. "But, moving on. Tear, you already told us you're with the Oracle Knights, and we've identified Dark as being Princess Natalia's bodyguard... Would you care to introduce yourself properly, Luke?"

"Even though I'm pretty sure everyone except Ion and Anise already knows? Gah, whatever," Luke grumbled. "Luke fon Fabre, son of Duke Fabre."

"And engaged to the princess."

"Shut up! I don't even like her!" Luke complained, this time at Dark, who had been the one to speak up. "I'll take Kairi over Natalia any day and Kairi scares the shit outta me!"

Jade and I exchanged a look before I busted up laughing, Jade unable to contain his for long either. I knew we'd had the same redhead cross our minds, and given the situation, we really couldn't be blamed.

"Humph. Fine, make fun of me!" Luke whined. I shook my head.

"No, we're not... you... I mean... it's just..." I kept trying to explain, only for my laughter to cut me off. Jade managed to compose himself and his eyes shone with amusement I hadn't seen since... Well, since Sync got stuck in the pile where I found my first frying pan.

"Sorry... Just don't ever let Asch hear you say that..." Jade said. Luke paled, having heard enough about the infamous 'Asch the Bloody' to know that I probably wouldn't be able to help him much if Asch was angry. "That having been said, I'm not sure exactly what to do with you three."

I crossed my arms and leaned back against the ladder on the bunk I'd woken up in as Luke grumbled. "Luke, listen up," I ordered. The redhead turned, and I sighed. "We can't just let you go, unfortunately. Jade wouldn't be out here with a relatively under-manned landship if he weren't on a mission. Top-secret would be my guess." Jade nodded in confirmation. "However, keeping civilians on board is a liability, especially civilians of an enemy country."

"To make matters worse, we're already headed for Kimlasca under orders from His Majesty, Peony the Ninth, Emperor of Malkuth. Not as an act of war, I can assure you, but given the circumstances of your coming here, we could easily be accused of kidnapping," Jade added. I bit my lip.

"And, in addition to that, I'm believed to be dead. My connections with your cousin won't do us a lot of good if they think I'm an imposter," I said. Luke's expression had been steadily going from annoyed to worried and depressed. I looked off to the side, as if thinking for a few moments. "Although..."

"What if we asked for their help?" Ion asked. I smiled.

"Nice to see I'm not the only one that hopped that train of thought." Ion gave me a confused look, and I rolled my eyes. "Moving right along..."

"For those of us who aren't telepathic, would you care to explain?" Dark asked.

I spotted the glance Jade shot at Dark, and then the one he gave me. I 'ignored' both of them in favor of turning to Luke. "Why don't you help us, Luke? Your position would make this mission a lot easier on us," I asked. And if you bring that up again I will bash your head in, Dark, I added, including Jade on the little threat. The bodyguard paled, though he managed to keep a neutral expression. Luke didn't look convinced, though.

"I see... I'll go ahead and release you three now. I'll grant you permission to enter any area you wish, apart from those containing military secrets. First, learn a little about us. Then if you feel you can trust us, we'd like to ask your help," Jade said. Asch's replica sighed.

"Why won't you just tell us what's going on?" Luke complained. Dark stepped out of the corner he'd been relaxing in.

"Because if he tells us and we don't cooperate, he'll have no choice but to hold us hostage in case we carry the information back to their enemies," he said bluntly. "Which is why he wants us to make up our minds first, although I've already made my choice."

I smiled. "Why don't you walk around for a little bit? We've got plenty of time, and even if you choose not to help, we're all going in the same direction anyway. We'll just have to drop you off before we can hit the border," I said, walking over to Jade and not-so-discreetly pulling my brother away.

Marco chuckled at the sight before turning to Luke and starting to talk again. I didn't hear what he said, but I could guess.

"Meow."

"Yes, Valkyria, I remember. We're on our way, don't worry."

"Unfortunately, I do worry. Especially when my little sister starts talking to a cat," Jade said, no longer being pulled along but walking next to me. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"The mess hall. I promised Valkyria I'd get her some milk as soon as we caught up to you," I admitted. "And given the fact that she's the only real company I've had for the last week... Yeah. Not going into that, thank you."

Jade flinched and looked away. "I'm so—"

"Don't."

Jade didn't look at me, keeping his eyes glued to the wall on his right, while I walked along on his left. I scowled, jumping in front of him and forcing him to stop or knock me over.

"It's not your fault," I said in a low voice. "You didn't know any better." I paused and let my head drop, holding back tears. "Neither did I."

Arms wrapped around me, pulling me into the chest of the man in front of me. "I wasn't apologizing for what Danté did to you," he said. "I'm sorry... Because I couldn't protect Sync."

My heart broke again. Selenia had said Sync never answered her letters, but that didn't mean anything. But this... This was the confirmation I'd been hoping not to receive.

"That still wasn't your fault," I said. "You didn't know he'd be attacked, too." I pulled away and looked up at Jade, and though his face was perfectly neutral, I could see every ounce of my heartbreak reflected in his crimson eyes. Sync didn't mean nearly as much to him, but he knew the green-haired boy was my best friend. He knew I was hurting, and while he'd long since given up trying to take care of Nephry, who no longer wanted or needed an older support, he was there for me.

"So, the mess hall?" Jade prompted awkwardly. Valkyria mewed in agreement, and I couldn't help but giggle a bit at the two of them.

"Yes. Milk for Valkyria... and probably a glass for me, too," I agreed. Jade nodded, keeping one arm around my shoulders and leading me off through the halls.

I noted the dull ache in my knee, keeping a very close tab on the pain. I'd have to sit down and see what I could do about reinforcing it again sometime. Maybe when the God-Generals attacked? I could always just get arrested with the others, and spend that time patching my knee together. That should definitely help...

When we reached the mess hall, I immediately took a look around. It was quite obvious where it had been patched back together after the incident with Barton and the Kimlascans, but... Wait a second...

"Levi?"

One of the soldiers at the bar turned at the sound of his name and grinned. "Well, hi there, Maes," the orange-haired man greeted me, using the alias I'd originally met him under teasingly. I turned to Jade and raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged.

"He was... Extremely helpful. Aslan decided to let him stick around," Jade said. Levi chuckled.

"Alex is the only other one who got off easy. Barton fed him the same crap he tried to feed your friends," Levi added. "So, what brings you back on board?"

I shrugged, hopping up into one of the seats. "This, that, the other... Same old, same old." Levi laughed, then became somber as Jade sat on my other side. I scowled, getting the feeling I knew what he was about to say, and the death glare I gave him managed to shut him up.

"Can I help you?" a soldier asked, stopping in front of me and Jade. Jade smiled and looked down at the floor.

"Two glasses of milk and a bowl of it for the impatient kitten trying to get onto a stool."

Levi snorted upon seeing that Jade spoke the truth.

"She fits right in..."

I elbowed him in the side.

Fun Fact: I wasn't sure if I'd get the Meggiora Highlands scene in, so I threw the first line of the chapter in here instead.