I'm back! Expect sporadic updates from now until the end of November. We've got 50 (approximately, assuming I don't add more chapters than I already have) parts to go up in that time, and I'm now working full-time, to boot. But I will get this story done by the end of November! I WILL!

Um... Yeah. Not sure what else to say here.

So, Enjoy!

"Sacrifice!"

I screamed. Rage, horror, pain. I'm not sure what was at the top of the list. Reighn just looked horrified. Seth was still unconscious, despite no longer bleeding.

I didn't bother to look at the ligers. My eyes were locked on Dark, who seemed to be falling in slow motion. Then the trance-like state shattered.

My body moved, feet landing one after another as I charged, not toward Dark, but the Sword Dancer. This was a battle. Not everyone survives battle... And I had started this one. This was my fault, entirely. I was going to end this once and for all.

I felt the fonons coming up through the sephiroth we were so close to simply reacting to me. Miasma-contaminated seventh fonons. I knew this was going to hurt, whatever I was about to do, but I didn't care anymore. I was going to finish this, before anyone else got hurt.

I threw my weight into the familiar spin and plant of Guardian Field, but it was all wrong. The circle wasn't blue like it usually was for both the base arte and Guardian Frost. No. It was a deep, dark maroon color, the color of the mud in the Qliphoth. And I could feel the miasma saturating the air around me, even as the dark, twisted version of Guardian Field erupted around me. I didn't even speak consciously. It was all my subconscious.

"Dark reckoning! Guardian's Pain!"

The Sword Dancer screeched once again, and this time hit the ground with dark wisps fading off of its body. It chuckled, a dark sound that did nothing to calm my racing heart.

:I see. That is how strong your ties are. Then, take these.:

It faded away, three weapons remaining behind. One was a rather familiar bow from the game, Natalia's Celestial Star that you get from the coliseum in Baticul. Another was also familiar, though I remembered that it was usually found in Mt. Zaleho. Still... I didn't think Luke would mind it much. I couldn't imagine Asch wielding Flamberge, at least.

The other weapon was also familiar... in that I could identify what they were. Chakrams. Still, at that point, I had other things to worry about.

"Dark!"

Reighn was already knelt over him and searching for a pulse, Seth left where he'd been placed earlier in the wake of Dark's stupidity.

"What happened? What did he do?!" Natalia asked, running up as the barrier fell. Reighn scowled.

"He used a forbidden arte, one that even I've never risked trying, and that should say something, since my family practically breathes forbidden artes," he said. He swallowed, finally pulling his hand away from Dark's neck. "He'll live. But I'm having a long talk with him as soon as he wakes up, regardless of the migraine I'm sure he's going to have.

Natalia knelt next to him. "What arte?" she asked. Reighn looked like he'd put something sour in his mouth, while Luke wandered over to the weapons the Sword Dancer had left behind. I noted that he looked at me and made a motion toward Flamberge. I just nodded, still shaken from what Dark had done.

"An arte called Sacrifice. Fitting name, given that the user is giving up every ounce of their magic and strength to heal their comrades," Reighn said.

I crossed my arms and glanced back at Seth, my heart finally starting to calm. "That arte didn't just heal us, it practically brought Seth back from the dead. Anything that powerful has to have a hefty cost to go with it. Law of Equivalent Exchange, after all. In order to gain anything, something of equal value must be lost."

Natalia looked up at me, and I wasn't sure if she wanted to yell at me for being so callous or if she just wanted to cry.

"Dark will live," Reighn repeated. "He's held out this long with Danté trying to kill him at every turn, and he's not dead even a full two minutes after successfully casting the arte, which means he's out of the danger zone. For now, we should just head back to camp."

Natalia nodded mutely, and I finally picked up the bow and handed it to her. She paused and blinked at it.

"You didn't want it?" she asked. I shrugged, showing her Silver Clematis.

"I've already got a weapon from the Sword Dancer. We should spread them out among the group. Luke's already taken Flamberge," I said. "We just need to figure out who gets to learn how to throw chakrams."

Reighn glanced over his shoulder, noting the rings I was bending to pick up. "Are those coated in poison like Silver Clematis and the Black Rose daggers?" he asked. I ran Energies over the blades, then nodded. "Give them to Dark. I know you're trying to help, Ion, but I'd rather you not be poisoning yourself with those."

Luke walked over then, Seth on his back and Flamberge nowhere to be seen. Probably stored away in his wing pack for now. Reighn glanced up at him, nodded, and lifted Dark.

Natalia and Ion hung back near the two, while Twilight, Sorylle and I held up something of a perimeter. Not that any monsters attacked. They tended to avoid us for a few hours after defeating Sword Dancers, which was both nice and bothersome as well.

Right then, I really could have used a moment to wind down by slaughtering a few monsters.

We made it back to camp without a problem, though Noir, York, and Urushi all gave us some worried looks when they saw that two of us were unconscious. No one said a word, Reighn just putting Dark down near the fire while Natalia helped Luke to get Seth off of his back. Luke then started right in on dinner, since it was starting to get dark.

I sat down next to Twilight and pulled out the chakrams we'd gotten, finally taking the time to look over them properly.

Pristine white rings had four rounded-edged extensions each corresponding with the cardinal directions, with a spike between each 'petal.' And petals I'm sure they were meant to be, since there were two sets of colored vines wrapped around the rings, one vine in green, the other in blue. Leaves came off of both in darker shades. The 'petals' were also tipped in dark blue, while the 'thorns' between them were tipped in dark green. Bars between the 'thorns' crossed in the centers.

Lines of Ancient Ispanian were inscribed on the inside edges of the rings, and I looked over at Seth, who was still unconscious, frowned, then waved Ion over, figuring that he'd probably know the language. I handed a chakram over for him to translate, and wasn't too surprised by the answer.

"White Lotus..." Ion said, sounding disappointed, or maybe upset that he couldn't help me much. I smiled.

"Thanks."

Ion smiled and walked back over to Reighn, crouching and continuing the discussion they'd been having about the Order.

I let all of the background noise fade out and looked up at the sky.

The stars were all wrong, but they were there. That was comforting enough for now.

To be honest, I wanted Asch there. Asch and Sync both.

It was just like I'd killed for the first time again. That's what it felt like. Like I'd killed a man for the first time. Except this time, the person was someone close to me, someone I didn't want to lose. And to make it worse, it had happened twice. First Seth, then Dark.

And it was my fault. I was the one that wanted to fight the Sword Dancer again. I was the one that hadn't thought it would kill us if it had a chance. And the worst part was, I was the one who had let it get to Seth. If it hadn't hit Seth, Dark wouldn't have had to use Sacrifice. I'd seen him. I'd seen the way he was looking at Seth, bleeding out even as Reighn worked frantically to save him. I'd seen it... And if I hadn't hesitated to run back into the fight after being thrown into the barrier, Seth wouldn't have had to keep that thing away from Dark all by himself.

Red fell into my vision, and I let my eyes focus a little so I could make out Luke standing over me. His green eyes were filled with worry, and the little cheagle on his shoulder seemed just as upset. I sighed.

"I'm alright."

Luke closed his eyes and let his head drop, bangs now obscuring his face. "And how often does Asch believe that?" he asked, scathing tone telling me my lie hadn't been accepted in the least. I sighed, shaking my head.

"He knows not to push me when I'm like this," I said, warning Luke that he was getting in a bit too deep. The redhead didn't speak for a few minutes, and just as I was starting to think he'd leave me alone, he took a couple of steps forward and sat down next to me. I sighed.

"Dark volunteered for that, remember."

I pulled my knee up and propped an elbow on it. "Easy to say when you're not the one in charge," I said.

"And the fact that you're still beating yourself up over it tells me that you're the kind of leader I'd rather have on my side," Reighn said, walking over as well, two bowls of curry in his hands. He held them out for me and Luke. I looked at it for a moment before forcing myself to take it. Reighn came back a moment later with Ion and his own bowl.

The two of them sat across from me and Luke, while Natalia stayed by Dark and Seth. The Dark Wings kept to themselves for the night.

We ate in silence for a while, before Reighn put his spoon down, stared at his food, and then looked up at me. His eyes shifted to Luke, then back to me. "Once this is over, would you two consider coming with us to Daath? Van's defection has effectively destroyed the upper levels of the Oracle Knights. We're going to need help putting the entire Order together, starting with its military."

I stared at Reighn. Given my previous track record with Daath, I didn't think he would even consider asking that. Still, from the expression he wore, it was a serious question. Which sent me hurtling back into my thoughts.

Me? A soldier? Or rather, as it sounded like he was suggesting, an officer?

But hadn't I been thinking like one earlier that day? Hadn't I been thinking like one in the valley, when the southern ligers were blocking the way out?

I took a deep breath, realizing just how much I'd changed since being dropped on Auldrant. And in realizing that there would never truly be any 'going back,' I knew I had sealed my fate.

"I'll do it."

"Kairi?" Ion looked at me, wide eyes and innocent expression. Reighn looked bothered.

"You don't have to make up your mind tonight," he started.

"I haven't got anything else waiting for me," I said, cutting him off. "I can't go back to what I had before, so I have to move forward. And I've no reason not to."

Reighn didn't say anything, just kept looking at me with those silver eyes that seemed to cut straight to my soul. I ignored it, eating the rest of my curry (not nearly as spicy as Sync makes it, thank goodness) and collecting Natalia's bowl. Ion was the next one finished, then the three members of the Dark Wings, then Luke, and finally Reighn. Luke hadn't said a word since Reighn made his offer, but Ion moved to sit where I'd been and started talking to him.

Reighn followed me to the river nearby, helping as I cleaned our dishes.

"Head of the Fon Master Guards. Head of the Intelligence Division. Commander of Special Operations. Chief of Staff. Commandant. Adjutant Commandant."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you muttering?"

Reighn looked at me and smiled wryly. "Ever wonder where the term 'Six God-Generals' comes from? Believe it or not, the Order of Lorelei has actually expanded a lot since Van became Commandant. The Six God-Generals used to be the heads of the six divisions, and each one also had a second title and a platoon of soldiers that were separate from their division," he said. "First Division Commander was also the Commandant. Second Division, Adjutant Commandant."

"What Legretta is," I said. Reighn nodded. "Third?"

"Head of the Intelligence Division. Actually, that one's mostly Mohs' fault, with just a little tweaking from Van. The Third Division was the Intelligence Division, twenty years ago. Now it's separate. Anyway, Fourth Division Commander was also the Head of the Fon Master Guardians. The Guardians themselves were just the Head and that separate platoon I mentioned earlier," he continued. "Fifth Division Commander was the Chief of Staff... Sync told me he'd been stuck dealing with that, so at least there won't be too much upheaval there. The detached platoon in the Sixth Division was Special Operations."

I nodded to myself. "I see. You're trying to rebuild the Order the way it was before Mohs and Van started rearranging things."

Reighn nodded. "Yeah. Sync and Asch have already agreed to come back. I figure Cantabile will be there. Cantabile's got the most experience, I'll probably move her to the First Division. Asch can take back Special Operations. Sync can deal with the Fifth Division again. I've already got the Fourth." He paused here and looked at me, and I frowned.

The Second Division, led by the Adjutant Commandant, or the Third, led by the Head of the Intelligence Division?

"I'm planning on putting you in the Third Division. If Luke agrees to join, I'll bump Asch up to Second. Behind me and Cantabile, he's got the next most experience," Reighn said finally. I nodded. Intelligence Division it was then.

Reighn smiled as we stood, though I could tell it was a bit forced. "Kairi."

I looked up at him, tired, gold-flecked green eyes meeting silver.

"Thank you."

Reighn took the rest of the dishes from me and walked off, leaving me there by the river to contemplate everything. Not that I really needed to.

Yes, I was in a Doppelganger body. Yes, I could go back to my real body whenever I wanted. But after everything I'd seen, everything I'd survived... Could I really just go back to living my life as if it never happened?

I knew the answer to that all too well. Let my Doppelganger continue to live out her life on Earth. I had everything I needed right here. I was going to make the best of it, or die trying.

"Urg..."

And speaking of dying.

"Dark!"

I started walking just a bit faster.

Fun Fact: When I first started writing A Ripple in the Abyss, I had no intention of using any artes other than the TotA artes or made-up ones. Sacrifice, all of Selenia's arte set, Crackle, and a number of other artes have been brought over from other games. (Mostly other Tales games, but Crackle (and Selenia's only strike arte, currently) is from Grandia III.)