I dared to look at my Excel workbook to see how far behind I am. A month. I am a month behind. *is shot*

At any rate, I apologize for not posting last Wednesday. I looked at Re:A Spatial Tear, thought about posting, and then didn't, because I was struck by the sudden inspiration to draw a brand-new cover for Re:ARitA. If I have any inspiration left after this, you can be sure it'll go into making a brand-new cover for Re:AST. At any rate... May I just say one thing? I hate Cantabile's uniform! (Can we figure out whose lineart *cough*tracing*cough* I just finished?)

Anyway... I'll post this now. And who knows? I may post again later tonight. Or early tomorrow morning. Whenever.

In the meantime... Enjoy! (And I must say, these are some of my favorite quotes of Chapter 2.)

"Cursing at someone isn't always this productive." –Kairi

"Now you tell me." –Cantabile

"Not you, butthead. The woman from the Intelligence Division." –Arietta

Flick is an enigma that is very quickly driving me up a wall trying to figure it out. –Kairi

Chapter 2.4 – Race, Double Agent!
Part 13

"Oh, shit... Wake up, wake up... Come on, Kairi! Legretta's on her way back, if she catches you like this... dammit!"

"Cursing at someone isn't always this productive," I informed the panicking redhead. Asch sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank Lorelei... You can tell Legretta I'll cooperate if you promise not to do that to me again..."

I sat up and looked around, my memory back to normal, with the exception of... No, that was a dream. Sync was dead. And... Oh, great. I'd had amnesia... Fuck!

I jumped to my feet as quietly as I could, hearing the heels clacking against the wooden floor outside. Good thing I did, because Legretta walked in not a moment later. Asch was sitting cross-legged on the floor on the other side of the bars, and he looked... defeated.

"I take it you two had an interesting talk?" Legretta stated more than asked. Asch stood, head hanging slightly.

"Van wants my hyperresonance. He has it."

If I hadn't just heard my best friend cursing at me to wake up, I'd have thought Asch really was giving in to Van.

Legretta looked as impressed as she had earlier (ergo, not very), and she turned to me. "You can find your way back up to the deck from here, can't you? Go warn Cantabile that she'll be sharing a cabin with Asch," she ordered. Clicking my heels together and saluting like a good little soldier, I turned and left.

*Your acting skills are really improving,* I commented along the way. Legretta was warning Asch that any 'mishaps' would result in his immediate imprisonment again.

*With people like you and Sync around, can you really blame me for picking some things up?* he asked. I smirked, reaching the deck and glancing around to try to find Cantabile. The purple-haired woman was leaning up against the railing, so I wandered over to her, brain whirling a mile a minute.

"When wakes the blue flame of angel's embrace, the fire's laugh will happily make chase."

*It always amazes me how little time it takes you to come up with a rhyme,* Asch commented, now following Legretta out of the cell. I resisted the urge to smirk again as Cantabile turned to look at me oddly.

*You just did it yourself,* I pointed out. Then I tilted my head to the side. "Is something wrong?" I asked. Cantabile blinked a few times.

"The cat has sought but yet will not have found the light that hides within the secret ground."

I couldn't help but stare back, and it was no wonder. That was a couplet Sync had come up with when I taught him the fine (and confusing) art of riddle-making. I had then come up with three sets of couplets to answer it, one for myself, one for Sync, and one for Asch.

"The sea has failed to drown the blue flame's light. Nay earth nor wind will block the fire's sight," I recited, almost breathless. Cantabile smirked before turning back around to lean over the railing again.

"I thought I'd lost you for a while there," she said. I shrugged.

"By the way, you get to share with Asch."

She groaned. "Now you tell me."

I smirked, putting my weight against the railing so I was facing the opposite direction as Cantabile. "And you did, for a bit. Remind me not to let Van bash my head in again," I added, just as Legretta and Asch came up on deck. Cantabile scowled.

"Want me to hold him down while you return the favor?" she asked. I didn't reply immediately, as Legretta was walking toward us.

"I'm under orders to avoid antagonizing him for a while," I said. Cantabile glanced up past me, then snorted.

"I'm not certain it would count as 'antagonizing,' but whatever," she said, pushing away from the railing. "Enough of my laziness. Flick wants to go bug Van about something, so I'm gonna go deal with the bridge while she does whatever."

Legretta stopped in front of me and watched Cantabile leave before turning back to me. "Making friends again?"

I blinked. "We were friends before?"

The blonde scowled. "You could call it that."

I shrugged. "Meh, whatever. If we were, I can understand why. Still, I'm under orders. Much as I hate it, I'm actually going to stick to them for once."

Legretta looked like she wasn't sure whether to laugh or groan. Meanwhile, Asch was giving me funny looks.

"I'm going to leave Asch in your charge for right now. I have to deal with Dist," Legretta said finally before leaving. I crossed my arms, then glanced at Asch.

"So, since it seems my wing pack has been confiscated... again... What shall we do to entertain ourselves?"

Asch shrugged. "There's not a lot we can do, really. Not with this many Oracle Knights around," he said.

"Hey, you!"

Asch and I both turned to look at Arietta. "Need something, brat?" Asch asked. One of my hands made its way to my face. Brat? Really? Of all the things he could call Arietta, it had to be brat?

"Not you, butthead. The woman from the Intelligence Division."

I couldn't help it. I snorted.

*Butthead? I don't think I've ever heard anyone call you that before...*

*Shut up.*

"What's so funny?" Arietta demanded, stomping over to stand in front of me. I shook my head.

"Sorry. It's amusing listening to people attempting to insult each other sometimes," I said. Then I turned serious. "You needed something?"

Arietta frowned. "Dist is making me put together a small team of Oracle Knights for a mission, and I don't want to have to deal with an entire group of idiots. You're a major, right?" she said. I nodded. "Then get ready to leave. I've got to find a couple more people."

I cringed. "Um, I'm already under orders to watch him," I told her, pointing to Asch. She scowled, then turned and growled something loudly. A liger ran up and she growled some more before turning to me.

"Which cabin is he supposed to be staying in?" she asked.

"Cantabile's," I replied simply. Arietta turned and growled some more before turning to Asch.

"Go with my friend, he'll show you to her cabin. Stay there," she ordered. Then she looked up at me. "I am taking you with me if I have to chase down Legretta to have her give the order."

I sighed. "Yes, ma'am."

Arietta walked off, and I crossed my arms, watching as Asch reluctantly followed the liger. I made sure to keep up a mental connection. "So, what am I supposed to do about a weapon? I'm kinda without one right now..." I muttered to myself.

"Here."

I held out my hands just in time to have something small and cube-shape shoved into them. "I told Zion your memories wouldn't stay down long. Oh well. Again, don't let him know I gave you that," Flick said quickly as she walked past, still in the uniform that seemed like a purple, female version of Sync's. I couldn't help but stare after her for a few moments before I realized I was still holding the wing pack out where everyone could see.

*And she is...?*

*Um... Flick,* I answered Asch's pseudo-question. He sighed.

*An ally or a neutral party?*

*Flick is an enigma that is very quickly driving me up a wall trying to figure it out,* I said. *I'd almost say she's a double agent, but that doesn't seem right either.*

*So, keep an eye on her?*

*Pretty much. Talk to you later. I think I know what's about to happen,* I replied, cutting the connection and heading toward the ramp, pulling out my sword before stashing the wing pack away. The sheath was tied to my left hip rather than my right, which would force me to fight right-handed.

Arietta arrived with two lower Oracle Knights and five ligers about six minutes after I did. I raised an eyebrow when I saw the ligers. In the game, Arietta's ligers have yellow bodies with white manes and purplish tails and ears, right?

Three of the five ligers matched the game ligers almost perfectly. The fourth had a black mane rather than a white one. The last, however... it had a dark orange-striped silver body with a purple mane and red wings and tail. Except, the tail had black tips. I frowned, remembering what Dark had told me about the liger clans and realizing that this one must have been western clan.

"Mirage, you can ride on him," Arietta said, pointing to the yellow-bodied, black-maned liger. "Sumrak doesn't seem to like anyone, so I'll ride him. You two pick fast," she added, walking toward the gray liger while talking over her shoulder to the two soldiers.

I stepped toward the black-maned liger and hopped up onto its back. It didn't seem particularly pleased to have me there, but at least it didn't snap at me the way the gray was snapping at Arietta.

"Let's go," Arietta grumbled once the other two were mounted. She growled at the liger she was sitting on the back of, and it barked something back before heading down the ramp... rather reluctantly. I couldn't help but smirk at Arietta a bit. She wouldn't have noticed, she was looking ahead, and the two Oracle Knights were behind me.

Once we were on the ground, the ligers dug their claws in and shot off away from the Tartarus... back towards Kaitzur. How did I know this was going to happen?

"We have to get in place before Anise and the others get to the port!" Arietta called over her shoulder. "We'll have about a day to get everything ready before we have to be ready to act."

"Great. What are we doing, again?" I called. Arietta looked grimly cheerful, if that's possible.

"We're going to stop them from moving on to Chesedonia," she said. "And we're going to get Ion back, too." Then she paused to roll her eyes. "Dist is making me help with one of his experiments, too."

I sighed. "Right..."

Let it be said that the trip to Kaitzur was boring. Well, except for Arietta and the silver liger growling at each other every few moments.

We ended up tucking into one of the rest facilities at the port, and, to my further amusement, the gray liger curled up as far away from Arietta as it could. I ended up in the bed next to it, and I leaned down, wondering if I could growl on purpose the way I growl on accident.

I cautiously tapped into the liger's mind before I growled, and was rather impressed, both by myself and the way ligers' minds are built, when I understood what I said through his mind.

"Good boy."

The liger looked up at me, seeming rather smug. "She's annoying," he told me. I only knew this because of the mental connection, mind you.

I just grinned, reached down, and scratched him behind the ear.

Arietta had just finished dealing with the other ligers when she walked over to us. She growled a bit, and since I was still listening through the liger's mind, I understood what she said to him.

"So you'll cooperate for a total stranger, but not for me."

The liger looked up and her. "I don't care if you're the daughter of the southern clan Queen. You're still southern clan," he stated. "And if you recall, I got kicked out for befriending an eastern clan member."

Arietta sighed, then glanced at me before looking back at him. "Would you rather she rode with you tomorrow, Twilight?"

The liger looked up at me, seeming to notice that I was still scratching his head, and he growled a general agreement. Arietta then turned to me.

"Sumrak seems to like you. I guess you can ride him tomorrow instead," she told me. I shrugged. It didn't really matter much to me. Still, it would be nice to talk to... I'm gonna call him Twilight. That's what Arietta called him in the liger language. I'm not sure why she's calling him 'Sumrak' now, but oh well.

Arietta walked back to the other end of the building, while the two Oracle Knights settled in near where she and the ligers had claimed a corner.

I frowned, strengthened the connection, and summoned up an image of Koran, attempting to send along a feeling of curiosity as well.

Shock and confusion were the first two things to reach me, followed up by me seeing myself through his eyes. I turned to look at him for a moment and nodded, then decided to see if this mental communication could still overcome the language barrier.

*I can't really speak the liger's language. It's usually all on accident,* I admitted. Twilight seemed amused.

*I see... So we can use words like this.*

Hearing his mental voice speaking so clearly almost made me cut the connection in shock. Then I realized that I really shouldn't have been surprised.

*So... You mentioned being friends with an eastern clan member earlier?*

Twilight relaxed, making it seem like he was falling asleep. *Yes. We were young at the time. His name was... Kallig. And to be honest... The liger you showed me earlier... If you hadn't attached the name 'Koran' to him, I'd have thought it was my friend,* he told me. *Kallig left before we were fully grown. He'd been playing with a human too. I guess he went with the human.*

My mind started spinning as something occurred to me. Dark had been replicated, and Koran had died when he and Dark were pretty much just following Natalia around all day? What if...

*You give me a headache doing that.*

My thought processes ground to a halt again. *Sorry.*

*That boy looked similar to the one Kallig used to play with, too... Are you sure that wasn't Kallig you showed me earlier?* Twilight asked. I sighed, mentally at least. On the outside, I probably looked like I was asleep.

*I doubt it. Koran died about a month ago. If I'm right, Kallig is still alive,* I admitted. *And his human friend and I aren't exactly on good terms with one another.*

Twilight sent along this feeling of not really caring. Then he seemed to pause. *How are you doing this?*

I frowned. *It's an ability I've picked up along the way. Don't tell Arietta, please?*

Twilight seemed smug again. *No worries. I like you. She's a bossy little...*

*Brat?* I supplied.

*That works.*

I took a deep breath and shifted a little, making myself more comfortable. *Talk to you in the morning, Twilight.*

*You know, I don't know your name. I wasn't paying attention earlier,* Twilight told me. I smiled a bit.

*Kairi. But again, don't tell Arietta. If she asks, my name is Mirage.*

Twilight growled something that meant absolutely nothing before I fell asleep and the connection snapped.

Fun Fact: Despite posting Part 11 first, Part 12 came into my inbox a full minute before 11... :/ Oh well... Also, this is the first place where Kallig is mentioned in this story. Dante mentions him while ranting to Zion in Re:ARitA. I don't think I ever mentioned him in the first two versions until after where I stopped in AST.