This is the FOURTH chapter. Go back to 41 and start from there if you haven't already read from that point. (Sorry to those of you who have read it because this is repetitive.)

Hide-and-seek of sorts! (That is mostly skipped over, I'll admit.)

"Funny. Your replica got damn good at it." –Dark

Chapter 4.8 – For Want of Separate Roads
Part 44

"So, you're telling me that you left to go fight something ridiculously strong just because it has a habit of dropping weapons?" This was the comment Guy made after our party returned to the group and I handed Anise the Genius Wand. That action had led to revealing the Black Rose knives and I'd explained where I'd gotten Silver Clematis finally. Hence, Guy's incredulous question.

"Yup."

"Wow... This thing's actually really nice," Anise admitted, twirling it in her hand. "It feels like it's a really good magic amplifier. But... Why give it to me instead of Tear?"

I shrugged. "Because I wasn't sure if she'd want it or not. Besides, she's a healer. Asch told that magic amplifiers don't work as well with seventh fonons. It'd be more efficient to give it to you."

Anise nodded. "That makes sense."

"So, Jade hasn't come back yet, huh?" Dark asked. Tear shook her head.

"No. I'm honestly starting to worry a bit," she admitted. "It's been almost twenty-four hours now." I crossed my arms. That was odd. I'd have thought by this point that Jade would either have returned or the Oracle Knights would have attacked.

"Wait. That sounds like fighting." All eyes turned to Dark, who was staring at the hill that led to Theor Forest.

"I don't hear anything," Natalia said. I frowned and nudged Twilight, who growled in confirmation.

"Our ears aren't attuned to it. But there is fighting. We should make sure no one's hurt," I said. The others nodded, and we headed up the hill.

"By the way... Why are you wearing one of Natalia's headbands as a blindfold?" Guy asked. I cringed.

"I over-stressed my fonslots. See?" I held up my hands, showing that my nails were dark with the blood pooled beneath them. Guy made a face.

"Ouch..."

I shrugged. "I don't really feel it at this point. Whoa... Seth?"

"Who?" Asch wondered. Then we reached the top of the hill.

"Gyah!"

Sync raced into action before I even had to say anything, Asch, Tear, and Natalia all prepping healing artes. It was no wonder. Seth was on one knee, trying to keep the gash in his side from bleeding too heavily, Jade behind him on the ground.

"Jade's alive, but barely," I said quickly. "Seth really needs help, he's lost a lot of blood. The two Malkuth soldiers are already dead." Sync kicked one of the three Oracle Knights away, then Reaper's Toll'ed the next.

"Times like these, I love having you on the second plane. Heal!" Asch said, sending his arte to Jade. Natalia's Heal went to Seth, and Tear made a Healing Circle under the two of them while Sync stabbed one of the Oracle Knights with a Black Rose knife and turned to another.

Before he had even finished off the other two, the one he'd stabbed dropped dead. I walked over and knelt, tentatively poking around the wound with Energies while Sync retrieved the knife. "It's the same poison that's on Silver Clematis."

Sync frowned, probably about to say something, when Anise gasped. "You're—!"

Seth let his head drop, and I stood up. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Seth Balfour. Seth... Anise Tatlin, Tear Grants, Dark Daemione, Natalia Lanvaldear, Twilight, Sorylle, Mieu on her back, Sync Osborne, Asch fon Fabre, Ion, and Guy Cecil. Gods, that was a long list."

Seth stared at me, then chuckled. "Nice to meet everyone."

Anise's eyes were wide. "B-but... You look just like the Colonel! Except... Without the glasses... And your eyes are brown..."

Seth sighed. "I... I'm a replica of him. Born twenty years after the replica data was taken."

"Before he planted that fonic glyph in his eyes," Asch added, crossing his arms. Seth nodded, then turned to look at Jade, kneeling again and checking his pulse.

"He'll be fine," I said, walking over and maneuvering my older brother onto my back. I was already limited in speed, so I might as well make that limitation a bit more physical.

"Are you sure you want to carry him? I can do it. And... Why do you have a blindfold?" Seth asked. I sighed.

"I over-stressed my fonslots, so I'm using a special method to see. Unfortunately, it means I have to move at a slower speed than I'm used to. Carrying Jade will forcibly slow me down... Besides, he's only a few pounds heavier than Asch. Which is actually not a good thing, given the height difference," I said. "So, walking?"

Tear looked uncomfortable. "Yes. If the Oracle Knights are attacking here, then they may be further into the forest as well. But with Jade unconscious, should we really just go in?"

Seth frowned. "I don't think it would be a good idea for the Malkuth soldiers to see us. Especially since I'm with you guys. Someone might make the wrong assumption."

"Right," Asch muttered. "Hide-and-seek... I always hated that game..."

Dark chuckled. "Funny. Your replica got damn good at it."

Natalia sighed. "Only because not evading you meant getting dragged to his lessons whether he liked it or not."

I sighed. "Guys. Walking?"

"Right, let's go," Dark prompted, heading further into the forest.

Our little game of hide-and-seek was definitely... interesting. Sync, with his green hair, coat, and dark pants could blend right in, while Ion's white outfit stood out like a sore thumb. Asch's hair and poor attempts at stealth weren't very helpful either. Guy's orange vest also attracted attention, as did Anise's pink clothing.

In the end, we split up into three groups. Seth, Tear and Mieu, and me and Jade were in one group. Asch, Dark and Sorylle, and Natalia made a second group, while Sync, Ion, Anise, and Guy were the third. Twilight was trailing behind the rest of us.

Sync, Seth, and Dark would sneak up on the soldiers and draw their attention away from the path the rest of the group would be taking before slinking back to them and starting the process over. Asch, Anise, and I would always be the first sent along the path, due to the fact that we'd be caught easiest. Then the less conspicuous members of our groups would catch up.

By the time we reached the area where Largo and Sync ambush you in the game, I was quite tired, and happily laid my brother on the ground. Then I pulled Natalia's now-ruined headband off and started wiping my eyes carefully.

See, at some point over the course of the morning, I'd started crying... tears of blood. That had soaked into the blue cloth acting as a blindfold.

I blinked my eyes open, and stared in shock as I realized that I had a bit of double-vision... something that I was used to seeing when I was half-on half-off the second plane.

I slipped fully into my body and looked around, amazed. Asch had said my vision likely wouldn't return for a few days yet, and that the chances of me having to get glasses to fix my vision would be high.

Except, my vision seemed even better than before, and it had only been about eighteen hours.

Then it hit me.

Seventh fonons are used in healing artes.

I sat down and closed my eyes again, fully stepping out onto the second plane to look at my eyes. Sure enough, my fonslots were in perfect condition, and while there were still red tears seeping out, it was just from where my body was cleansing itself.

But, that meant that there was a lot of miasma running rampant around in my system. So I drew together the water Energies I'd need and started cleaning that out. I took the time to check out the general levels of miasma in my body, too. There was still a lot to clean out, but at least now it was going along a lot easier. In fact, by the time I had to operate a passage ring again, I'd probably have no difficulty with it at all.

"Hey. The other group isn't here yet?" Asch asked as he walked up. Seth shook his head.

"No. But... Sorry, Natalia. I don't think you'll be getting that headband back."

The blonde looked down at the blue cloth in my hands, and gasped. "Is that... blood?!"

I dropped back into my body and nodded. "Yeah." I stood up and turned around, blinking as the light threatened to blind me. "It's natural, though. My body's just clearing away the dead cells."

Asch crossed his arms, looking baffled. "You can see again, can't you?" I nodded. "How is that even possible...?"

I chuckled. "Ah... I'll tell you later. It's got to do with the miasma."

If it was possible, Asch looked even more baffled than I'd ever seen him. Then he sighed and shook his head. "Whatever. Shouldn't the others be here by now?"

Seth looked up at the sky. "They took the far-right path... It's probably a farther distance."

"You seem to be assuming they're still alive."

The familiar voice made my eyes widen. How had I not seen...? There!

I noted that Natalia had her bow out, and I pointed. An arrow flew through the air, Star dropping down from the tree before it could hit her. A shockwave blasted me, Asch, and Dark away from the rest of them, Largo then stepping into that space. I scowled, drawing fonons around me, ready to cast in a moment's notice if I had to.

"Largo, Star."

Star crossed her arms, glaring openly at Seth. "You said—"

"I've said a lot of things since Rhunön created me. I'd think by now it would be obvious I don't always do them."

The girl sniffed, obviously irritated. "Fine. More work for me, but so what?"

She reached into a pouch and drew out a wing pack, summoning her puppets from it quietly, while Largo settled into an offensive stance. I sighed and pulled my sword out again. Seth was a fonist, Asch was, primarily, a swordsman/healer, Natalia was an archer/healer, Jade was unconscious still, Tear was a healer, and Dark was long-range. Sorylle wouldn't be a lot of use, still.

We needed someone else to fight short-range, and we'd sent Guy and Sync off in another direction, while Twilight was still behind us in the forest somewhere, assuming the Malkuth soldiers hadn't spotted him.

I frowned a moment and glanced down at my sword. I had it in my right hand because that's where it had been resting before... What if...?

I shook my head and banished it before summoning Silver Clematis and charging at Largo. He'd been distracted by Sorylle while I was being my usual, indecisive self. Dark was already prepping an arte, Witches' Circle if the fifth fonons were any indication, while Asch glanced at me, making a hand signal. I frowned, but made a signal that meant 'wait a moment.' After unleashing a series of attacks on the largest God-General and then using a Raging Blast to attempt to stagger him a bit, I turned and raced out of the way.

Then I started rummaging around in my bag, checking for Life Bottles and gels.

"Four and six," I called out loud, since Asch was attacking Largo to keep him off of me. Asch nodded, then, rather than running out of Largo's range to avoid the counterattack, braced himself.

"Blazing Talon!"

Asch grunted, then turned and raced back toward me, settling into a casting stance while I raced in to keep Largo away from him.

"Let's try something new instead! Devil's Wing!"

I blinked back the shock of seeing a black version of Archangel's Wing. Then again, didn't Dark say it took way too much out of him? So, that explained the first fonon version.

I let off a Havoc Strike and then turned to hightail it out of there, just in time for Asch to finish healing himself. We switched out like this regularly, until Asch flashed another signal. I nodded and raced forward, already collecting up sixth fonons.

This time, using this through my fonslots wasn't going to do the damage it did before, because I'd finally jumped that hoop.

Asch jumped back a bit, glanced at me, then ran at Largo. I paused and braced myself, and Asch let out the shockwave he'd been holding back. Then he stuck his sword in the ground.

"Feel annihilation! Rending Saber!"

The sixth fonons I'd been gathering rushed into place without a complaint. "What's the matter? Don't want to lay down and die?" I grinned. Now that it wasn't burning me to do so, this felt really great. "How about I help you! Shadow's scorn!" I pointed at Largo, feeling the sixth fonons welling up around me. "Fae's Ire!"

Largo grunted as the blast of light struck him head-on, and I turned and ran back out of the way for a moment, glancing around. Asch was casting, Dark was casting, and Sorylle was panting at Dark's feet. I looked over at the others. They seemed to be holding their own against Star, and Twilight had joined in at some point.

It looked, to me, like Natalia was spending more time acting offensively than as a healer, since Seth was also a seventh fonist. He and Tear were staying back, alternating between casting Healing Circle and an offensive arte. Éclair de Larmes in Tear's case, Eruption or Negative Blade in Seth's. I smiled a bit at the level of cooperation shown as they fought Star's puppets, then turned back to Largo and ran at him.

"Witches' Circle!"

I paused to let the arte die out, then went back to attacking Largo myself. Slash, slash, stab, Havoc Strike. Slash, slash, stab, Raging Blast. Slash, slash, stab, Havoc Strike. Oh, hey Asch. Slash, slash, stab, Guardian Field. And so on.

Asch retreated for a few moments to let loose an Icicle Rain. Largo, now very, very angry, I'm sure, swung his scythe around and hit me, hard, on my right side. I hissed, and Asch ran in, making two hand signals. One for me, a signal to get back and cast, and one for Dark, a request for a healing arte. I just nodded and jumped up, heading away from Largo and settling down to cast.

"O violent torrent! Splash!" I frowned as Largo knocked Asch back to where Dark, Sorylle and I were before running after us. And Dark was still casting, he couldn't move without interrupting the arte.

"O divine ring of purity and grace! Halo!"

And that was when I found a definite negative to what I'd done to my fonslots.

Light enveloped me, then expanded rapidly, and Dark, Asch, Sorylle, and I cried out in surprise, Largo grunting when the light hit him, too.

"A hyperresonance?!" Dark mumbled.

"Damn!" Asch cursed, and I felt the fonons start to come under some semblance of control. Not enough, and not fast enough, however.

"Asch! Dark! Kairi!"

And then we were gone.

Fun Fact: Asch really is just 13 pounds lighter than Jade. Jade mentions at some point during the game (probably one of the cooking skits) that he's underweight.